a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at our t.v. moscow i'm sure sushi tension between the u.s. and iran is being a rash of it out what seems to be a daily basis here at the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton added fuel to the fire calling tehran's recent threats to close a vital oil transit route in the gulf a provocation. you can now look 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. 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

quote 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 its oil exports is in danger the u.s. is imposing fresh thanks and that will dramatically complicate transactions do you grand 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 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 it sensibly 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 if i absolutely want them to believe that that's the thing that secretary would you add anything to that number lead. it's just a war of words and neither sign for an all out conflict entering what it is asked or it will. 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 i 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 tehran on wednesday has further antagonize the tonic situation columnist and veteran war correspondent eric margolis believes that tehran is 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 the major financial support of israel i'm surprised that in fact these attacks have not invited bringing in retaliation against the suspects it in syria and international crime violence and international law and this issue has not been raised that the u.n. security council which it should be retaliation could be directed against this really were american scientific personalities. in the region i think the radiance are just very anxious to get revenge but they're being cautious now because it seems not so far away in the gulf merican massacre and there are growing threats against. you know without saying it's good of you to join us today and still to come in the program the occupy wall street movement reclaims of prime

piece of real estate two months off the occupiers were a victim from new york zuccotti park it's now the police who have their hands tied . plus activists say human rights are at risk in israel several controversial bills are put in front of lawmakers including one lowering that criticism. the first foreign journalist has been killed in syria a french t.v. camera and at least eight civilians died when hit by a mortar shell in the city of homs a state television blaming the terrorists for the attack meaning the opposition groups to check claims for instigating the violence this comes just after president bashar al assad told supporters and damascus that he is aiming to prevent civil war he wants again accused foreign powers of sponsoring the rest and independent news out of said james corbett 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 prove 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 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. and a professor of international relations at mark armand says that even those opposing assad still prefer him to the idea of foreign intervention and the risk of more bloodshed but 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 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 think but i think one of the themes of president assad is trying to do is to say do you want to see libyan style civil war and chaos or would you or do you think 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 and i we spoke extensively about syria with professor of middle east politics dr jeremy salt and he says the scale of the opposition movement may be seriously overblown and the full version of

the interview is coming your way later this hour here on our t.v. but for now a preview. and we have a very very dangerous situation in syria which could have exploded into a very very nasty. probably breakdown in the country it could lead to regional war . in this country let's see if you give me a few months to have a process work for. a base of support so. i don't think you could say that the party would be doomed the moment they call free elections that could well. party is coming to you live from moscow protests have marked ten years since the first prisoners were sent to america's most controversial prison of course cuba barack obama's promise on his first day in office to close it remains on for fields and that never rang more hollow than last month when he signed a brand new law allowing the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects artie's

laura smith a story. one homeowner's one. abdel moneim 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 warlords basically and they

actually thought oh the americans 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 there 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 a moving closer to being freed shockers 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. there i'm very sorry indeed president obama for

reasons. lack of political will or he would say complete inability to deliver has not. lived up to that promise and indeed is now bracing to american citizens to trials in military commissions which are very far from being fair trials with due 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 windowless cell not knowing whether he can ever expect to be released laura smith london. and the ten year anniversary has drawn human rights activists in other countries to demonstrate as well i'm going to see international a protest at near the statue of liberty in paris the twin of the famous mourning going to new york hundreds of also bring them on the closure of one ton of on the

streets of various cities across america but investigative reporter jason leopold told us here at odds here that the majority of the public in the u.s. tends to ignore an issue that stains the country's reputation. it's very sad that the public more or less this tune kuantan know out has tuned out. widespread human rights abuses that continue to take place in guantanamo it is an issue an 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. you with all it's he and don't forget

we've got plenty more on our website on t.v. dot com let's check out what's lined up for you that right now a lot of me who didn't publish his campaign promises on a brand new website as the race for the top job in russia gathers steam heat dot com is that a guide you all the way through. breaking the ice a russian or is on an unprecedented mission to deliver a lifeline to people in alaska in the city cut off by a severe winter conditions. in about ten minutes time is the business news here protesters are back in new york's zuccotti park the symbolic but the place of the wall street movement where it all started almost four months ago barricades have been in place since midnight when

the occupiers were victory tonight raided by police but now that the barriers are gone the protesters are determined to stay and. 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 people 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. we're saying no way will occupy wall street be able to last until the summer and 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 now

let's check out some other international headlines for you in brief for the r.t. world up very heavy rains and floods in brazil state of rio de janeiro have left at least twenty eight people dead five members of one family who died in a single landslide thousands of people evacuated from their homes are being sheltered in schools tents all by relatives it was just a year ago more than one thousand three hundred people died all went missing because of floods in the same mountainous region. parliament has approved the new conservative government's first austerity measures aimed at tackling the country's swollen deficit package calls for most 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 forced greece ireland and portugal to seek financial bailouts. i say you members move forward with austerity measures the kaiser report

highlights the on balance of the global economy now quick a preview of what max and stacey have coming up for you that will be next hour here on cots. 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 trawl should debt now and this is revealed then the release also more austerity measures and then there reveal more losses so it's a death by a thousand revelations. card report next hour here on r.t. but for now the course of critics is growing in israel against the so-called boycott law and punishes anyone who speaks out against the country's settlement construction in the west bank she would rights activists have turned to the supreme

court to overturn the legislation as artie's paula reports there's a whole range of other controversial bills waiting for cabinet approval as well. gershon baskin is a wanted man in israel for his outspoken views against the government's policy of settlement expansion it's not monic because if it wasn't for those left wing israeli activists it's done for israel would have security of 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 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 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 teen who filed a petition to another law the morning after it was passed in parliament until the court rules otherwise is where the owners of companies based in the statement can seek damages for boycotts called against the goods i don't i don't accept any book could not buy the book or not write not let. the boycott laws. 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 are perceived 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 and 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 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. i have to say we're not here are to you know it's our time for creating business.

hello there thank you for a welcome to the business program is a new year for the stock market leading players but it starts off with a lot of the same old problems financial uncertainty and debt issues continue to weigh heavily on the main global economy is making labeled go soft on the to be capitalised as it financially but is well placed and ready to face the challenges of twenty twelve. russia is. quite we'll positioned. in terms of sustainability to stonewall shops and this is mainly because a transit hub is significant achievement over the exchange rate for the city. center of india we're going to so into we have and i think that even in kids so if . global market deterioration we want to be facing a sufficient simular to the cells and data so isn't one in the russian economy as a central bank pays more attention to interest rate would see the stamp or returns

to keeper is within its interest rate corridor or another big family for themselves and twelve is everywhere but the potential leader is a chanel for the local want to market for foreign investors and this is also one of the most interesting new way and soon the ship could take place and their action for initial markets. let's have a look at the markets now that oil fast has been a rise from the love is the sentimental most to wait to get by concerns of a striking nigeria and threats of most functions against iran's nuclear program crude supplies and diving stock markets are mixed as investors await debt auctions in spain. as well as a european central bank meeting proposing john this economy video zones based of course contracts in the fourth quarter is also keeping investors on guard although the tax is holding on to smoke i have on the one percent and here in moscow the markets have again early losses but the all tests under my state's not in the block

by and that she was made out to in the wreck now just just by not surprising then that fairly makes this down i kind of have a look at those individual news and energy majors all mixes our gas milkmaid gas comes up to denounce conses spend five point seven billion dollars on the slots and it impacts the whole company local. all is losing point six percent that uncle mike after ross is among my gayness for the second day rather that some a ball to run out the sun alliance plans with the russian comic it's a fifty percent in the first quarter of this year the go off from rightsizing tap so expect the stocks to go out in the fall as tough of this year. overall we are quite positive from the second on the first quarter and bill in 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 first of all you would be more or less

difficult while the second one would be more positive we think first and we think that situation with the european debt would not affect that much on the deck which is market is did last year so we see some improvements and we think that we're close to the bottom of this it's in middle of the crises itself but the influence on the equities market because of european problems. until the news russia's economy has seen some shift from speculative capital to foreign direct investments also become tree house in eighty four point two billion dollars of capital outflow the biggest in years on this site investors were taking money from risky markets like russia due to financial on certain see around the globe foreign direct investments rose twenty eight percent to forty eight point five billion dollars. the russian market so call sells jumped to ninety cents in two thousand and eleven

you socialization of european businesses they were over to no. vehicles was much higher than full cost however it still hasn't managed to get back to pre-crisis levels be a big spec's the market to grow at a slower pace to share a major worldwide economic uncertainty save. just suck the largest still make a seven. stull is planning to build a new plant in the republic of trinidad and tobago in order to improve the efficiency of its american assets the project is worth six hundred million dollars with the company attracting local state and private commercial partners the plant will supply cheaper oil materials for several styles and to rise in north america and finally the russian cinema industry has got a present for the new year locally produced movie is performed foreign ones at the box office over the nationwide winter break the magazine because bullets and says

russian films generated forty seven million dollars or fifty four percent of the total box office that's a surprise given that the total share of local movies for the whole of two thousand and eleven was around thirteen percent in the russian market is the top grossing film will still a form of life but show it comes a game of shadows. and i'll be back in about fifty five minutes to join me then if you can.

when an uncomfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world who is more is enough obviously the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. or it's someone asking him why do you make a secret out but when the powers to be suppress the voice of those who think different culture when you go 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 be seen up and humiliated in public when the attempt to protect property puts life in real danger that we have been deprived of the only means of earning a living and i have the gall to originals of all the papers to be out there little

rice the ownership rights on the basis of companies freedom becomes just a stage prop. it's easy to. meet. with the bones building block. is the war of barricades from one side and fears blockade from the other. invisible border it has cut people from the land for twelve years.

the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over. if you're just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is our last call now the crisis in relations between washington on terror ron it's all being aggravated by the assassination of a fourth iranian scientist in just two years iran that blames israel and america for the plot but says it will not direct the country's nuclear program. the ten year anniversary since guantanamo bay created its first prisoners has been mobbed by protests in the u.s. on the border people took to the streets demanding the release of those.