just doubts over the euro zone's and pretty to tackle the debt crisis grow as nine nations get their credit rating. believing it's not status. quo in the welcome to r.t.c. weekly news review i'm carrie just tensions between iran and the united states increased dramatically this week tehran blames the west for orchestrating the assassination of one of its nuclear scientists on wednesday america is also pushing hard for an all export and buggy want to iran over its nuclear program with tehran threatening to block vital maritime trade routes in response what he's going to change account as the story. 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 arm 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 he ran 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 oil artery through which a sixth of the world's oil is shipped 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 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 if 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 somebody. it's just a war of words and neither side will go for an all out conflict considering what it

is sastry 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 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. for another country under increasing international pressure to syria because

proposing sending arab troops to the country to stop the violence that shake. me is the first leader of the country to call for military intervention qatar which is a u.s. on i think one of the strongest advocates of regime change across the arab world despite being one acute self international affairs consultant in the news told r.t. that arab countries lecturing syria on democracy is hypocritical. now south is clearly not what you would call a democratic leader but within the arab context he should be not the worst one on the contrary i am a dad i believe he's doing i mean who does the arab league represent the back rain united arab emirates saudi arabia those do it there are few do monarchies and they are not the ones that should point a finger and south whether there is an international conspiracy where there are elements that point out and we did this part of it i think it's more complex than

just that there is also genuine popular revolt but it is absolutely sure that there are elements from outside who are taking abusing whatever there is living among the syrian people for their own purposes that is absolutely. for turkey also stepped up pressure on its neighbor at the beginning of the week. takes a look at why syria's one time ally is not advocating sending troops. to the bloody status quo in the syrian crisis maintaining commands she is a growing violence may start spreading beyond the country's borders especially with its close neighbor turkey once a close friend but now harsh critique of damascus on. a serious first priority should be to listen to its people and meet their demands not to denounce others sort of massacring its people we should listen to them. so glitter glue is a harsh critic himself but he's criticizing the turkish government ankara is on the

side with the free syrian army and the syrian national council and military and diplomatic forces aimed and overthrowing the regime of bashar al assad it supports a buffer zone and a humanitarian corridor which some fear could bring turkish troops to syrian soil what does that mean according to international law it means aggression against a country it means war but any intervention would be different from the one in libya since russia and china have made it clear new war no fly zone resolutions it means the role of original players like turkey increases dramatically but for new claims and korea's behavior is irresponsible and risky it has larger implications beyond the bilateral context of turkey syria as such the situation in syria must be handled with great care by all powers and unfortunately

i don't see that cash. a sufficiently especially the part of our government or hand works with a middle eastern studies center based in ampera it's sponsored by the turkish foreign ministry to help shape policy and its opinion on syria it's clear syria is killing their own people. not always that's clear nobody has objectively information what is going on in syria the center specialists haven't been to syria for over here it means the picture they paint for officials in ankara is unlikely to be an accurate one the technology at changing you know when you look at the photographs or the videos coming from these governorates you can easily see that there is something going on but the sources of these videos are often questionable so it's easy to be misled and get a false picture of what's really happening but doesn't that. stop researchers from coming to firm conclusions the military operations this is the last option which

turkey does not want to see but this is an option it may have declared it doesn't welcome a military solution to the syrian crisis but turkey hasn't ruled it out either plain and if game if there is massive migration from its troubled neighbor turkey says it will have to protect its own people and marc fisher and korea insists it wants peace and stability in the region its troops are already just kilometers from the border with syria. r.t. turkey. well r.t. later we hear from the author of what's been described as the blueprint for non revolutions next sharp explains where these concept of useful rebels is any match for young arab spring. and where incomes have started many see is next in line breaking things down why that's likely swiper similarities to the proper name . europe's debt management got a cold shower from

a major ratings agency this week essentially being told that the austerity they're imposing on people isn't working standard and poor's lowered nine countries scores france austria a stripped of their top aaa status action around the euro zone was mixed with some expressing disbelief and others like germany's foreign minister calling from europe to have its own ratings agency chancellor merkel said there's a long road ahead when it comes. to see how well the stock markets will respond on monday from la quinta on the institute of the moccasin cooperation paris things are absolutely accustomed to blaming the ratings agencies for their troubles. downgrading shows that those strongest countries are not as strong as we thought they were even austria has been downgraded so this idea that a call europe can somehow save the periphery even that is not hannibal and it's true that these agencies are not above reproach they've made

a lot of mistakes in the past and goodness knows the financial services industry including the ratings agencies is far from perfect but i think that european leaders are being completely paranoid when they blame the ratings agencies for their problems any fool can see that there is a massive debt problem in europe the fact is there's been a lull in the crisis but that was really to do with the christmas or new year holidays they have assessed the situation and they have come to the conclusion as have many other people that the situation in the eurozone is untenable and i think when the euro finally collapses as it will do surely within i would think probably the next year that we will see this announcement downgrading of france and as having been one of the decisive moments. well germany came out of the downgrade sweep unscathed keeping its aaa rating and investment analysts see that as a significant power shift in the euro zone and a situation in france's finances is that they've basically been borrowing money on

their every year budget since the mid one nine hundred seventy i mean it's absolutely ludicrous and unfortunately all good things must come to an end and actually they've only been lucky because of economic growth in europe as a whole and the fact that there are economic powerhouses being struck to the ultimate power ice of europe which is germany and that's why this is such an emotional moment of the european experiment because not everyone across the border into germany from france is going to be looking down on on their neighbors and saying why should we germany and up being alone amongst the very elite club of nations that have got their aaa the top grid and indeed our french partners the germans are going to see it is no longer the perfect bride it's tarnished goods. still to come for you here in r.t. the soldiers in the seeds of the destruction of a group of american marines killed you native of the corpses of writers who were

putting that clue troops largely. and we visit ukraine find out why many are. ready championships and others predict a huge cost to be event will never pay off. people in kazakhstan are heading to the polls the parliamentary election comes just a month after the country was shaken by deadly riots in the town of. striking oil workers clashed with security forces over poor pay the polls were originally from next august but president dissolved parliament and the date forward the move is seen as an attempt to broaden the single party dominated parliament and some of the worker reports the time seems right to change in a country that doesn't want to follow in its restive neighbors steps. if it wasn't for the snow and the freezing temperatures kazakstan capital of aston i could

easily be mistaken for one of the gleaming cities of the gulf a village just two decades ago it is now an oasis in the desert but its architecture having a distinct arabic flavor like many arab countries kazakhstan's primary sources of income are all in gas and it is that x. ray that allowed this country the luxury of building its new capital city from scratch in fact kazakstan is now producing about as much oil as libor was churning out prior to its civil war and the similarities don't and here both kazakstan and libya have predominantly muslim populations both were considered stillbirths of calm in their turbulent neighborhoods and both have experienced decades of rule by just one man in terms of style that fast. is the exact opposite of erratic more market and of course he. still in power but the libyan scenario no longer seems improbable in kazakstan even to its leader some young people are fascinated

with what's happening in the world right now in africa and europe but we have to explain to the new generation that blindly believes everything it's told that there are those who enjoy our well being the countries where revolutions took place have gone back ten to fifteen years economically speaking the town of journos and is rightfully called catholics tons of oil capital but it's no match for glistening asked. despite producing much of the country's hydrocarbons for decades it's been poor and neglected. the uprising in western kazakstan has molded since last spring but culminated in december in a weekend of clashes with police that left seventeen dead and more than one hundred injuries as the protest spread to other cities. jittery in the wake of the arab spring but it was billed happened in arab countries definitely scared because of the thirties the first thing they did when their prize in began was to switch off mobile networks and the internet connection before the people even demanded it out

loud the cancer had the riches decided to offer a political reforms the people are now going to the polls to elect a new parliament recent constitutional amendments guarantee they'll be more than one party that has been up until now the challenge is to keep all the good things stability prosperity. and at the same time allow the society to evolve. meanwhile their thirties have approved millions of dollars worth of programs to give the rest of cd a facelift and create new jobs between ages. the presidents called associates appointed to oversee the turbulent region says in a few years and will make some cities in the gulf pale in comparison. come here in a few years and you won't recognize this city while the arab spring may have inspired protesters around the world it's also taught authorities valuable lessons

on how to contain those rallies like the rulers five would much rather learn from the mistakes of others especially if they come at a price paid by gadhafi and a boycott artsy kazakstan well we'll of course be following the parliamentary election in kazakhstan to bring the latest news along with some expert analysis throughout the day. a fresh scandal involving the u.s. military isn't helping stability in the country that a group of american marines filmed year in eighteen on the corpses of taliban fighters have been identified and punishment as promised was doing that will to quell the growing disgust felt around the world this week but regional experts say could mean that u.s. soldiers currently serving in afghanistan will end up paying the price so let's not forget that the americans came to understand with the explicit objective also off transforming this country into a more humane country into

a democracy and we are seeing happening right now with the appearance of this kind of a video it's the opposite and it is having an impact let's not forget that this is a region where religious values are really very deep deeply entrenched and the way you treat bodies and the way you treated dead is something that is treated very secretly here and with this video you can you can rest assured that this will have an impact in terms of the kind of reaction the kind of backlash to this will generate this really will generate against the very. the american soldiers who are there right now in afghanistan is really in danger is their life it is fair to say that with this video surfacing the lives of american soldiers in afghanistan has become more let's say in a more precarious situation than they were before this video well if you say it's a good physical thing coverage more young people to join the taliban and al qaida

afghanistan war veteran jake to the vet tech says that coupled with the presence of the says this latest scandal is simply helping terrorists with human this just to remind people of a few incidents that occurred a while back there was the the burning of the koran that happened with. terry jones as then there was the abu ghraib incident and before then there was the decision to invade iraq that had nothing to do with nine eleven so all of these these situations pile on and they add up and what happens is al qaeda and other terrorist organizations and using this video and they put it in their recruiting videos and up on you tube an across the jihad a web channel and they end up reading anti-american sentiment this is the hugest recruitment for al qaida that we can do that anybody can do nobody in the united states military is trained to pee on dead people this is the behavior of ill disciplined soldiers under my opinion are probably also suffering from

a severe amount of p.t.s.d. from a long ended war and what happens when you suffer me t.s.d. you and dehumanizing other human beings in the battlefield and it is unfathomable how pathetic this is become because the war hasn't been brought to an end like obama said he was going to do and what we're seeing abu ghraib happen twice now in afghanistan. well not everyone in america is outraged by what the marines were filmed doing as r.t. has online a c.n.n. contributor praises the troops actions to. do the same in this situation. a leaked cia report shows that the war in afghanistan is and still meet the taliban determined to make a comeback as soon as nato troops leave is that dogs with the recent optimism from the defense department twenty fourteen maybe with go date but an american think tank on peace in afghanistan believes the actual put out will take far longer it has been ten years that has not unified the country i said should have been it

looks like there's no chance for the americans to see a government standing on its feet however this could prolong americans be honest on for quite a number of years i would say and the years are unknown at this time but it looks like it's going to be a long time because there's a corrupt government cannot function in the way that it is right now the fact is that there's a friction in the white house right now that some more say no basically the pentagon going military is the one that's calling up that same day you know we should not really rush in ploy fast as we can the report also claims that talk about is operating from neighboring pakistan undermining the results of operations in the region but the fence honest i had hunted told r.t. that the document is mostly about america shifting the blame for its last war.

basically what the americans are not trying to do is their boss the responsibility of their failures and of what imus found upon baucus done and this is all true corroborated from the fact that the nato supplies that pakistan has blocked today in pakistan then the military hardware which is and i envision level hardware almost nine armored infantry divisions and their support the government supplies weapons and ammunition are stuck in pakistan and the concern in pakistan army is that if me americans are talking of the drawing from of honest on the piecemeal of a taliban then why would the americans need a brahms m one a one main battle tanks and almost nine all morning friendly divisions. explore all our stories in depth on our website more than and up at r.t. dot com it's like it's like saying. it was nice to run aground off the coast if you three people dead and dozens still missing. on the final four but it

was the probe that will certainly or several weeks after getting stuck with that should come down some people should have more. people in ukraine are worried their country may drop the ball in hosting football's un twenty twelve finals having failed to tackle issues like police corruption and point structure as an axiom ski discovered there's also concern that authorities are splashing out more in the tournament and they can afford. the incredible adventures of food bullheads from extreme accommodation to driving through impassable roads this is the scenario some believe awaits fans who will flock to

ukraine for the euro twenty twelve tournament of base journalists organized this photo exhibition trying to voice a rather pessimistic message about the upcoming football cup. we're being told by the government that everything has been built by the fans will face those problems that we ordinary face everyday poor straight better issues bribery by the police or and terrible medical facilities raided could be a major failure. at first glance such concerns may seem laughable even in the darkest times of financial troubles the euro twenty twelve projects remained top priority when almost all construction projects were halted roads airports and stadiums never stopped being built after a string of stadium opening ceremonies in ukraine you wait for chiefs are now completely sure the country is ready to host the tournament but this is just one

example of what really worries some in ukraine this broken road is only several hundred meters away from a vital highway and there is a slim chance it would ever be repaired before or after the tournament kicks off experts believe ukraine simply has no money for that and the euro twenty twelve will not change the situation. of the ukraine is spent fourteen billion dollars on euro twenty twelve projects but we predicted to earn only half a billion from the tournament twenty eight times less everyone knew that it's a typical situation especially faced in europe the question is if we could afford such spending in hard times like this. tournament organizers brush all this criticism aside saying rick. of how much money your twenty twelve brings the country is building a bright future for itself for the first time in twenty years history people get new airports new roads new term in the us everything is new we believe that people

who is of ukraine they will come again there was of ukraine so this is our main goal a special euro twenty twelve clock was installed in central kiev to count down the minutes to june skew cough and despite some skepticism the majority of ukrainians are relieved to see it ticking in their capital city not anywhere else with all the airports and stadiums springing up it's hard to believe now that almost a year ago the tournament could have moved to another country by you a far as ukraine was not doing good enough now there is no doubt whatsoever it will be held here but one question still remains whether it would become an opportunity of a lifetime or a luxury this economically hit country could not have afforded. ski r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. headlines in just a couple of minutes here stay with us.

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 breed the 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 in fact this forty four bridge. we are counting. properly drowning and i think it's spread by it's cutting off heart. it's making real democracy. all but impossible.

now it's not about spilling blood. it's the war of the barricades from one side and fears blockade from the other. invisible border has cut people from the land for twelve year. the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over. eighty.

they're the stories that shaped this week tensions between iran and the us intensify the terror on the west for killing a nuclear scientist from washington is threatening action if iran blocks of. pending sanctions. qatar becomes the first arab league member to call for troops to be sent into syria to tackle ongoing violence there the proposal being labeled people critical coming from a monarchy preaching regime change elsewhere.