as fall into the ocean two months after its launch the spelling feared it might cause damage on its return the worst we are getting conflicting reports about whether it's ended up in the pacific or the atlantic will try and i'm bad at this hour for you. welcome just after midnight here now in moscow you're watching the weekly a roundup of the top stories in the last seven days here on r.t. with me kevin now in and first the crisis in relations between iran and the west began fueled by wednesday's assassination of a top nuclear scientist in tehran iranian officials blame the murder on the u.s. and israel who want to stop its nuclear program meantime american and british warships will gather in the persian gulf but iran a day earlier threaten to block a crucial oil aid that's made a pending all embargo and of forcing to run to abandon its atomic ambitions. 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 tell 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 do you grand central bank iran is also close to losing here a visit 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 he ran straight to block the strait of hormuz a vital oil artery through which a sixth of the world's oil is should the u.s. replied by moving its translate to the region and saying if iran goes forward they will attack thousands of u.s. troops are being deployed to israel experts say the policy of isolating iran may lead to other threats from tehran moment by the end 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. let's tackle kerry would you. do that some believe it's just

a war of words and neither side will go for an all out conflict considering what it is that 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 unless. we would do ourselves a very by ignoring most of it all of this really i think is connected to israel and the israeli fear of iran for rhetorical reasons war the military 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 getting our reporting from washington r.t. . still ahead this hour the book of politics in kazakhstan takes up an election in a year for the common people and season with a few fulfilled promises that is the elusive recipe it seems for peace the cosmic

start is serving out in a region simmering with unrest. plus it's a perfect recruitment for the taliban produced by and starring american troops syria action to the shocking footage of u.s. marines urinating on dead afghan soldiers. syria's president bashar al assad's issued an amnesty for crimes committed during the ongoing anti-government uprising in the country according to the official state use agency it will pardon peaceful protesters also those who carried out on carried unlicensed weapons and army defectors have turned themselves in before the end of the month meantime pressure on assad's been growing this week the ruler of qatar suggested a military intervention should end the unrest in syria shaping khalif for families become the first arab leader to openly endorse military action qatar a monarchy itself is an ally of the u.s. in a strong advocate of regime change in damascus sort of matter sec a middle east research and sort of told us this exposes the double standards of the

arab league. this is just really unbelievable to hear this especially considering that today qatar mir is actually in sri lanka another country whose government violently oppressed its people and there was no word not a peep from the international media from the international politicians and nor from the security council and so this is really problematic that sri lanka can get away with this kind of violence but you know when it comes to a country that is against western interests there is a different standard and of course we have to remember that the tar sand forces to the rain to help you know well a demonstration that brutally repressed democratic protesters in bahrain with you know with the invitation from the training royal autocratic government there so this call for you know interference or intervention and syria really is quite ridiculous when one looks at the undemocratic past and present of these gulf

countries and how and why they believe that they can use force to you know interfere in a country that's going you know suffering from a civil war really in from the violence from its own citizens when you know who is who are the arab troops going to shoot if they enter syria. independent journalists told me just submitting to foreign pressure despite it being dangerous for the balance of the country. it's being received in a kind of mixed way by the syrian syrian people of course these people they were by no means just peaceful protesters according to the syrian government they were in fact wired to they were people who had set things on fire destroyed many government buildings in these kinds of things the reaction is very much seen as though the president is is being very generous he is releasing more people despite that the

situation in some parts of the country is still very extremely tense there are concerns among some sections of the syrian population that monks many people who are being released there will be some criminal elements who will slip through the net people understand that the president is under a lot of pressure especially international pressure to respond to calls to release these prisoners but the same time there is very much a concern that it could be a dangerous move. the euro struggle for survival got that much more difficult this last week after a major credit rating agency slashed the credit scores of nine nations the downgrades handed out by standard and poor's cover me a growing concern that the eurozone failed to rein in its runaway finances and debt france and austria were especially hard hit losing their prestigious aaa status that made them a safe haven for investors the reaction from e.u. leaders was there even some calling the move unjustified while others accepted the decision and called for to action because of

a surprise you are now waiting for later on today monday when markets open to gauge how much damage is being done john laughlin from the institute for democracy and cooperation in paris told me he believes the euro project has reached its end. the downgrading of france but not of germany obviously means that the franco german axis is no longer tenable proposition what we see in the euro zone is that there's only one country calling the shots not two and that's germany there's no doubt that it will strike a terrible blow for sarkozy is only real chance of winning the election was to show himself as a safe pair of hands as the devil you know in a crisis now it's clear that france has both a crisis and the devil you know i mean it's true that these agencies are not above reproach they've made a lot of mistakes in the past 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 and i think when the euro finally collapses as it will do surely within i would think probably the next year we will see just a this announcement downgrading of france and as having been one of the decisive moments. investment analyst patrick young says he believes the rating cuts were well over due it's been deserved frankly for several years i mean the french government has been economically incontinent for the course of several decades they've lived in never never land they have no concept of how to run a reasonable economy in terms of not spending more money than they can afford it's a disaster for mr sarkozy but then again it's been coming since the start of his presidency it's been building for twenty five years and he did nothing about it so he's just as culpable as everybody else in this issue on the future of the euro everything is not up for grabs again it emotionally destabilizes every single

aspect of the euro because we still have no leadership in the eurozone we've got situations like greece needing fourteen and a half billion euros to refund in march alone the euro sits on the precipice tragically and that's a terrible thing for all our viewers throughout the world. country. the debris of russia's failed martian space probe called for falling back to earth but where it landed remains unclear let's try and get a handle on the story across one of the crosses the role of the peter that we've got a lot of information for the last two hours since this story first broke two and a half hours rather but there's still confusion about exactly where the pieces of land in what you know well it's emerged there appear to be three theories as to where the remnants of food disgruntle eventually hit the earth now most of the probe burnt up in the atmosphere along with any of the toxic fuel it was carrying but around two hundred kilograms it's believed all of the modules made it through

the earth's atmosphere now we heard initially from the russian military saying that that landed in the pacific ocean around one thousand two hundred fifty kilometers off the coast of chile we then heard from cosmos the russian space agency who said this well maybe it landed in the atlantic ocean over the other side of the south american continent now we've also heard from a ballistics expert putting forward a third theory which is that the the remnants of they say this probe that came back down to earth could have spin spread over such a large area that it could have actually hit both the atlantic and the pacific as well as parts of mainland brazil now as it stands at the moment we have no reports of. did come down over mainland brazil if it caused any damage to people or property but those are the theories whether it's the atlantic whether it's the pacific or whether it was spread over such a large area it hit the atlantic the pacific and parts of south america ok well we're still following that but there's a huge disappointment that this probe didn't get out of orbit didn't jet away as it

should have done to mars isn't it a lot of people involved in a very expensive mission to a very expensive mission indeed one hundred seventy million dollars it cost to build this probe it was a hugely and dissipated mission from the russian space agency it. supposed to go to the moon a focus pick up soil samples bring them back to earth for analysis possibly where it gets its name from food is good and basically meaning focused soil in russian now that's information that data that the scientists were craving could potentially they were saying of lead to developments towards a potential martian settlement a human settlement on the moon of course all that data are gone now it was a hugely disappointing mission at the probe got into orbit and then pretty much stayed there no matter how much effort was made by ross cosmos as well as the european space agency to try and contact it and get it back on its way eventually crashing back down to earth on sunday evening or i paid all of

a thanks for bringing some today what we know so far. a lot of shock this week by an online video that showed american marines urinating on the dead bodies of taliban fighters the u.s. military says it's identified the soldiers in the clip an appointed now three star general to investigate but regional experts say the damage has already been done and it'll be the u.s. troops currently in afghanistan who are set to pay the price 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 is 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 video will generate against the very. the american soldiers who are there right now in afghanistan it really in danger is their lives. well many have fear that the video will encourage more young muslims to join radical terrorist groups that the taliban or al qaeda jake deliberate in afghanistan war veteran he says that this latest scandal what with previous abuses is the perfect advertisement for creating terrorists just to remind people of a few incidents that occurred while barack there was the burning of the koran that happened with you know jerry jones and then there was there are grave incidents 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 is al qaeda and other terrorist organizations and they're using this video and they put it in their recruiting videos the end up on you tube and across the jihad web

channels and they end up reading anti-american sentiment this is the hugest recruitment for al qaeda that we can do it's 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've seen abu ghraib has happened twice now in afghanistan when everyone in america is outraged by what the marines were filmed doing as you can see on the website of the dot com c.n.n. contributor they're praising the troops actually the schools say that she'd do the same in their position of choice or some views about that either side take a look at our web site also there as well violent clashes spread across romania we've got footage is austerity anger and frustration with government boils over on the streets for a fourth consecutive day starts he dot com. this week universe through the world's most controversial prison guantanamo bay was marked by public protests on both sides of the atlantic demonstrators called on us president obama to want to his

election pledge and shut down the jail was artie's laura smith reports many cited a new law that allows america to detain anyone it deems hostile as proof that obama's promises are empty ones. one zero zero zero zero zero one zero zero zero abdel moneim am absolutely 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 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 when time 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 fell 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 kuantan i'm very sorry indeed president obama for reasons. you lack the political will or he would say and complete inability to deliver has not. lived up to that promise and indeed it is now basing to book american citizens need to chose in military commissions which are very far from being fair trials we. the british government has requested the release of armor 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 r.t. london. polling booths across kazakhstan of no closed millions of people cast their votes to choose the country's new parliament and those votes are now being counted

the elections come a little less than a month after oil workers staging a prolonged strike over poor pay were locked in fatal clashes with security forces the elections were set to take place in august but the president dissolved parliament last november and ordered an immediate vote exit polls so far show that the ruling new party is a must some eighty one percent of the vote with his closest competitor coming in at seven percent in the second political group to enter parliament previously made up of entirely members of the ruling party and as xander boyko reports preempting violent unrest is a priority and start of a glow and stirring lessons from the arab spring. it wasn't for the snow and the freezing temperatures stands 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 arrive at flavor like many arab countries kazakhstan's primary sources of income are all in gas and it is that acts for that allow this country the luxury

of building its new capital city from scratch in fact kazakstan is now producing about as much oil as lieve beer 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 consider still roots 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 afy and of course he's 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 envy our well being the countries who are revolutions took place have gone back ten to fifteen years

economically speaking the town of john knows 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 smouldered 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 protests spread to other cities. jittery in the wake of the arab spring but it was because i stand as a semblance of. well chrissie with several parties in parliament and some of position media but the essence of the regime is similar to those of the arab countries that's why the first thing the authorities did when their prize and began was to switch off the mobo networks and the internet connection before the people even demanded it out loud the chasm the riches decided to offer 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 now 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 their restive cd a facelift and create new jobs between each case. the president's close 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 been sparked protests around the world it's also taught authorities valuable lessons on how to contain those rallies and like all rulers and those that are by would much rather learn from the mistakes of others especially if they come at

a price paid by gadhafi on a boycott artsy kazakstan. chavez is one later that washington often portrayed as an enemy but as it turns out that is where this president may have the edge of his american counterpart because he's in a position to provide thousands of americans with heating oil they desperately need to free up his more important higher explains. winter morning in the south bronx new york city outdoors the temperature is near freezing indoors. seventy seven year old alison many otis is bundled up brewing a pot of coffee and raising the heat just enough. to take the chill out of the air the retired grandmother of seven lives alone on a fixed income and each winter as federal programs continue to be slashed the struggle to afford comfort gets harder i call it adds and waving i mean all they do

was raise raise raise raise and i mean it's the same dollar you get and so how far can you push it one hundred gallons of oil one hundred fifty gallons of oil is about. right there about close to six hundred dollars however venezuela has been stepping in to make alice's life a bit easier by delivering one hundred gallons of free heating oil each winter she is a four year beneficiary of the citgo venezuela heating oil program which provides free heating oil to five hundred thousand poor americans living in low income neighborhoods and shelters throughout the country president chavez often demonized by washington helped launch the program in two thousand and five following hurricanes katrina and rita all i know is that he was caught and he was crying to the people of the united states and i'm sure he he he ruled differently like obama wrongest differently and the whole we to tell these people how they should live or

how i mean are they good invading our country with their not being generous to give us what comes out of their earth at no charge so could you really have ill feelings against them. i'm thankful for it. i really am in an interview with the venezuelan newspaper el universal america's leader bell sort of expressing similar sentiments of gratitude president obama recently accused the chavez government were strict ing human rights and taking threatening steps. democratic values the venezuelan leader didn't mince words while perspire ending directly to his u.s. counterpart you know what obama i feel sorry for you just ask the black communities in your country what you mean to them your the greatest disappointment of recent years go ask the poor people of your country you're a great disappointment to them it's time that we stopped minding everybody else's business and took care of business here we have children that are graduating from

college with eighty ninety one hundred thousand dollars that they have to pay back it's to peace it's knowing them just that and they can't get a job a struggle getting that much harder in the land of opportunity arena point nial hearty meal. coming up shortly cake scott the latest sport for intruding heated tempers in the tennis world she said with a sit in a bit less than twenty minutes times also got this i was interviewing to right after the fact of recap the headlines for you this early monday morning it is now here you're watching.

this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one that won't we breathe 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. not with snot about spilling blood. it's the war of barricades from one side and fears blockade from the other. invisible border has cut people from the land for twelve years.

the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over. becoming the top source in the week for maté there's no letup in the around us dispute over nukes and sanctions following the assassination of a top atomic researcher in tehran and that's being played out america in israel. but the headlines are brought you a growing line of intervention supporters now the emir of qatar is the first arab leader to openly call for foreign military action in syria while former ally turkey keeps its forces on standby along the border. and turning up the heat a wave of credit rating downgrades pound europe depriving for.