this is r t coming to you live from moscow i'm marina joshie welcome to the program tension between the u.s. and iran is being rushed up on what seems like a daily basis the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton added fuel to the fire calling to iran's recent threats to close a vile oil transit route in the gulf a provocation. looks at whether words could soon become action. the cold run of tension between iran and the west is simmering. it seems the slightest increase of heat could make it boil over into an all out confrontation. but where will 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 quell washington that the international nuclear watchdog is on the side 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 through 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 to confrontation cornered by crippling sanctions iran's threaten to block the strait of hormuz a vital oil artery through which a sixth of the world's oil is shipped the u.s. replied by moving its fifth fleet 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 and the 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 if i absolutely want them to believe that that's the thing 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 sadly i think is connected to israel and the israeli fear of iran for rhetorical reasons more than military ones 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 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 r.t. well iran blaming america and israel for the assassination of a nuclear scientist in iran on wednesday has further intamin eyes the delicate situation columnist and veteran war correspondent eric margolis believes to iran is willing to retaliate but it's being cautious at the moment. it's either israel did the killing murder and the united states certainly didn't condemn israel for doing it. it's true it's a major financial supporter of israel i'm surprised that in fact these attacks have

not invited bringing in retaliation against these suspects it is. an international crime by launching an international law and this issue has not been raised that the you want security council which it should be retaliation could be directed against this really or american scientific personality. in the region i think the iranians are just very anxious to get revenge but they're being cautious now because it seems not so far away in the gulf. and there are a growing threats war against iran. on our t.v. occupy wall street movement reclaims a prime piece of real killer chapter occupiers were. part it's now his hands are tied. but activists say human rights are at risk in israel as several

controversial bills are put in front of lawmakers and. why apprentices. the first foreign journalist has been killed in syria french t.v. camera man at least eight civilians died when head by a mortar shell in the city of homs state television broke the story of how many of the armed opposition groups which are blamed for it gave us so they just outright president bashar asad told supporters in damascus he's aiming to prevent civil war he once again accuse foreign powers of sponsoring the unrest and the panic news editor james combat says the syrian leader may have a point. 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 sixty arab league mission there is is pretty much pre-ordained no matter what the mission 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 in 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 would still prefer him to the idea of a foreign intervention and the risk of more bloodshed. but the problem for president assad is that the main centers of resistance to him all 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 and turkey and to some extent from jordan so we have a kind of standoff president assad has

a lot of support the opposition has support we don't really know what ordinary people think 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 and 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 he says the scale of the opposition movement may be seriously overblown the full version of the interview is coming your way later this hour but here's a preview. for a very very dangerous situation in syria which could have exploded into a very very nasty. proto 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 process works for bashar does have. a base of support

so. i don't think you can say that the party would be do the moment they call free elections that could well. have marked ten years since the first prisoners were santa america's 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 terror suspects are just laura smith reports. one zero zero zero zero one zero zero zero abdullah i am not freely today's 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 omer 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 who were 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 toddler and bear 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 far from 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 kuantan i'm very sorry indeed president obama for reasons. who will or he would say complete inability to live. up to that promise and is now bracing to become american citizens to try it in military commissions which are very far from being. 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. not knowing whether he can expect to be released laura smith. but ten year anniversary has drawn human rights activists and other countries to demonstrate as well amnesty international protested near the statue of liberty in paris the famous monument in new york hundreds of them manning the closure of guantanamo on the streets of various cities across the u.s. but investigative reporter jason lee paul told r.t. the majority of the public in america tends to ignore an issue that stains their 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 and 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. while we're always here to get your take on the story and today in our online polarity dot com we're asking when do you think one time out of a bay will be closed let's take a look at the answers so sixty percent of the viewers don't believe the u.s. will ever close the facility at fifty things prison will be shut down when american runs out of cash to splash on it seventeen percent of the year is say only and if the silly elsewhere will haul big one tunnel day about three percent and believe

going to town alone will close its doors after the u.s. announces its victory over terrorism let us know what you think by logging on to our web site r t v dot com. now protesters are back in new york's zuccotti park the symbolic place of the anti wall street movement where it all started almost four months ago their gates have been in place since mid november when the occupiers were evicted in a night raid by police but now that the barriers are gone the protesters are determined to stay as artesian associates working 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 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 whole movement that has now become nationwide over the last several months you can just barricade people out and you can see 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 people come here and gather as we move into this bring it 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 it's. 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 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. and over yeah we've got plenty more on our website r.t. dot com let's check out what's lined up there right now later. it's in a twist a brazilian counselor blasts brides for not wearing underwear during their weddings discover why the newlywed girls are going commando at r.t. dot com. six months in a labor camp for not crying enough north korean authorities are reportedly punishing those who did not display sadness at the death of late leader kim jong il .

the chorus of critics is growing as role ganz to so-called boycott law it punishes anyone who speaks out against a country settlement construction in the west bank human rights activists have turned to the supreme court to overturn the legislation but as artie's policy reports there's a whole range of other controversial bills waiting for cabinet approval to. gershon baskin is a wanted man in israel for his outspoken views against the government's policy of settlement expansion it's ironic because if it wasn't for those left wing israeli activists it's dark for 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 gershon says it was his contacts within him us that allowed the two sides to reach an agreement but now

a controversial so-called boycott law threatens to find the post war hero if he steps out of line the appeal to the public is an arab appeal. and there is a competition of who is more strongly advocating a position which is a very arab what the law 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 hope that the supreme court gives us a loud screaming 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 gabion who team 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 called against the goods i don't accept any boycott. by the.

right not 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 oprah sieved not only by the left but by the proof 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

a boycott of the city and far from censoring him the law has only strengthened his resolve to stop israel's growing onslaught on democracy. television. let's take a look at some other stories from around the world a russian tanks are struggling to get through ice in the bering sea on its way to the livery of a lifeline to the city of no western alaska it's being accompanied by an american coast guard icebreaker and it's carrying one point three million gallons of fuel for people cut off by the winter conditions but thick ice and strong currents are severely hampering the mission if the ship does get through it would be the first time fuel has been delivered to western alaska by sea during winter. heavy rains and floods in brazil state of rio de janeiro have left at least twenty eight people dead five members of one family died in a landslide and thousands of people evacuated from their homes are being sheltered in school stands or by relatives a year ago war than one thousand three hundred people died or when missing because

of floods in the same mountainous region. spain's parliament has approved a new conservative government's first of staring measures aimed at tackling the country swallowing deficit in a package calls for almost nine billion euro in spending cuts including income and property tax high speed is battling to avert being dragged further into debt crisis that has already forced greece ireland and portugal to seek financial bailouts. as even members move forward with a stair the man. as the cause a report highlights the unbalance of the global economy and here's a preview of what max's stacie have coming up later today. these are losses that are on the books off 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 fouls in revelations. i . katie's hero next with a business news. welcome to the business program leaving still have stepped into the new year with the same old problems find out you on certain see and debt issues continue to weigh in a number of economists meanwhile they tell a pod goose off from the t.v. capital says a russian economy is ready to stand up to the challenges of twenty twelve. russia is. where it will position to do. things in terms of sustainability is to start all shops this is mainly because

a lot of the mob is significant achievement over the exchange rate for the city. center of india which into cells until we have a what i think the e.u. would mean kids so if global market deterioration we want to be face into submission. to the cells on day disowns and nine in the russian economy as the central bank pays more attention to interest rates will it suits him very strict keeper is within his means or straight corridor missouri another big theme for themselves and twelve is very good but the potential of a leader is a chanel for the local want to market for foreign investors and there this is also one of the most interesting the way as soon as she could take place in their action for initial markets. let's have a look at the oil markets at the moment oil is up from the lowest settlement in almost two weeks as a strike in nigeria combined with the crisis sanctions against iran's nuclear

program raised concern about crude supplies amazing markets on low often china released new inflation stuff saying consumer prices instead lightly in december anti-terrorism european explains its hold is about under pressure because of the law again ahead of the meeting of the european central bank also draggin sentiment in days out as i said that japan's current account surplus follow up than expected and the european stocks have opened today questions that say it is not so negative while german taxes of course of the cents high also guys to do with that the japanese economy contracting in the fourth quarter keep investors on that and harry most of the markets have just slipped into the red off to open up the causes of nice but yachts as my sex just down a notch. let's have a look at some individual sad news on the my side and he made his a mix is our guest monopoly is slightly out the company says it will spend seven

billion dollars on the sochi olympics and the oil company lukoil is raising out of a sense and active-x. is among the main dennis for the second about some ripples of the red all this on alliance cars increase it sharon the russian homemaker took fifty per cent in the first quarter of the share a go pop saw from the right size and capital says the stops to grow in the first half of this year. overall we are quite positive from the second in the first quarter and bill in the first half of the year at all i would say these goals it beat contrary to the overall consensus in the market which suggest that the first couple of year will be more or less difficult while the second one will be more positive with first and we think that situation with the european debt would not affect that much on the deck which is mike it is indeed last year so we see some improvements and we think that we're close to the bottom of the stupid signal of the crises itself but the influence on the equities market because of european

problems. you know the news of russia's second largest still michael sevastopol is planning to build a new i'm faulting the republic of china dog and tobago in order to improve the efficiency of its american assets the project is well six hundred million dollars with sevastopol attracting local state and private companies as the pool to supply to people with the service stalls and supplies in north america. and finally the russian cinema our industry has a presence locally produced movies outperform foreign ones at the box office of the nationwide went to break the magazine because bulletin says russian films generated forty seven million dollars oh fifty four percent of the total box office was a surprise given that the total local movies for the whole of two thousand and eleven was around two percent in the us market the top grossing film was for one

that sherlock holmes shot this. and if you want more business news and to come back in fifty five minutes albeit with awfully. if they shoot something inappropriate for public they can easily be shot by

sebastian is a war ok. i wish he would have never happened but it has. been a war a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary what does their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave america and this clear brought about guns with such witnesses i got him on my site. one of my many objects the baby. the boy. should nurses shooting on our. when an uncomfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world who is more as you know following. the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. or it's someone asking him why do you make a secret out that when the powers to be suppress the voice of those who think

different or when you get experiencing very serious problems often the saakashvili government came to power in two thousand and three but it was a book that was when the problems began piling up. interviews were now off limits to our journalists they were often beason up and humiliated in public and one of the attempt to protect property puts life in real danger is that we have been deprived of the only means of earning a living i have got to our original sit all the papers. at them legalized the ownership rights on the basis of companies freedom becomes just a stage prop. wealthy british soil. that's not on the telephone.

market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's culture for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report. called back and watching are to remind her of the top stories the crisis in relations between washington and tehran is aggravated by the assassination of a fourth iranian scientist in two years iran blames israel and america for the plot but says it will not the real the country's nuclear program. the ten year anniversary since one tunnel of a greeted its first prisoners has been marked by protest in the u.s. and abroad people took to the streets demanding the release of those still held in a jail that president obama vowed to close.