claimer says the default scenario is already on the table in brussels doing it slowly but surely sort of preparing the public that the default is imminent and then not to unavoidable be so do you think commissioner is crucial really saying as much in the dutch media and so we hear it from even those sources like i.m.f. so i think that is the situation. the system is unsustainable the greek economy is suffering to much the measures only seem to make it worse the greek and also living up to do agreements they signed this is not the system situation we're going to go on for a very long but i think it's going to happen in these small countries will direct the europe project don't it is going to cause the loss and of course the leaders will say that everything with high end that what they have to say to move reassure us that there is no question about the euro project as i can. see in

science instead of in need so in circles there's real money so you know how long they can keep the so as international pressure on iran mounts russia's military has assessed the probability of a western strike against the islamic republic as being a high concerns of pending military action grew after israel blamed terrine for two bomb attacks on its diplomatic staff monday and today a blast in bangkok artie's peter oliver has more. the chief of staff of the russian armed forces said on tuesday that he thinks a plan for a western attack on iran could be in place by the summer of this year and he's basing that statement on the fact that since the arab spring started a year ago russia has been monitoring the area of the wider middle east very closely enough to looking at the findings from that monitoring this is what he's come up with now and this comes just a day after two israeli diplomats were targeted with car bombs in the capitals of

georgia and india now the bomb in georgia was able to be defused however in india that car bomb exploded very very close to the residence of the prime minister of india and injured several people now israel was very very quick to point the finger of blame for those attacks at teheran despite terror experts looking at the findings and coming up with saying well there's pretty much no evidence that it was behind those attacks this is all really part of the ongoing blame game between tel of the. the iranians claim that the israelis have been behind a two year campaign of assassinations on their nuclear scientists well on choose day in bangkok what we've seen is a rainy unmanned taken into custody by police after an explosion two explosions in bangkok injured several people there now it's really media very very quick to point the finger of terror towards that iranian man who's being detained there so this is

all part of as i say a blame game that's ongoing between tel of eve and terror on. and some say the noose could be tightening around iran for more on that we speak with brian becker a member the answer at the answer anti-war coalition interview coming up.

thank you for joining us on r.t. thank you but does the united states want from tightening the sanctions i mean there it's even beyond tightening the sanctions now indeed it is the united states government has created an artificial crisis that's first and foremost it's a manufactured crisis iran is complying with the i.a.e.a. iran does not have a nuclear weapon iran is not threaten its neighbors iran has not started a war with any of its neighbors israel on the other hand has hundreds of nuclear weapons and unlike iran refuses to sign a nuclear nonproliferation treaty does not allow. inspectors into its country so there's not really a nuclear menace or a nuclear danger from iran and so what is the cause what's the cause of the crisis of the artificial crisis the real goal is the united states government has embarked on a course of extreme economic aggression against iran with the hope that by creating

economic suffering economic isolation economic misery that part of the population will rise up or become disenfranchised with the government so that the u.s. can do as it has in history carry out regime change they deny that the u.s. denied that it's trying to carry out there was a change in iran right i mean we have to take that with a very very big grain of salt because we know that since nine hundred seventy nine the united states refuses to have relations with the islamic republic of iran why is that because iran is a dictatorship well it's actually a democratic government it has democratic features far beyond some of america's most foremost their allies in the middle east such as saudi arabia for instance since one thousand nine hundred nine iran became an independent government before that between one nine hundred fifty three in one thousand nine hundred seventy nine when the shah was there the shah basically is a proxy or a puppet or a client of the american power. so the u.s.

says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who is watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even a like the old saying they are saying to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p. if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade something like an economic blockade of iran and by international law in economic blockade is an act of war and so we should understand it just like that so what do you think iran's response is going to be well iran so far has been very prudent even though they said that they would consider closing the strait of hormuz

that six mile stretch of the persian arabian gulf where twenty five percent of the world's oil supply goes through. and even though much was made of that in the western media in fact iran has not done anything to give the u.s. . pretext an excuse a provocation so to speak that would allow the united states or israel to trigger a set of military actions. i think is also telling its people that we are not panicked the iranian government are not panicked that they're trying to show that they have a serenity and a calmness and a confidence and that they will weather the storm but in fact economic sanctions are taking a bite on the iranian economy right now the sanctions the tightening of the sanctions the. coalition that the u.s. is trying to build against iran but what is iran going to do it to face all of this pressure well. iran has certain allies to iran has russia and it has china

increasingly it has venezuela and cuba another words those governments in the world in addition of course to syria which has its own problems right now but the countries in the world don't want the entire world to be dominated by one power the united states of america they recognize that the existence of iran as an independent government is something that is positive meaning that if the united states were were were to be successful in carrying out regime change in iran they would be emboldened to carry out further destabilizing efforts against other powers including russia and china by the way even though there are great powers that presidential elections have any say in what's going on in and what's going to happen with iran and tens of washington. i think the presidential elections in the united states definitely play a role in u.s. policy towards iran that by the way has been the case ever since the iranian

revolution iran has factored into american politics in this case the republican candidates are sort of baiting obama and suggesting that if obama is reelected we will have a nuclear armed iran someday soon well i do something just to counter their statements because it's an election year i don't think so i think that it's not out of the question that obama could opportunistically up the ante or even escalate tensions or even allow some sort of limited military attack against iran in order to show how tough he is and how why he's not a liberal or something like that but i don't think so this is a very big project for the pentagon for the cia for the u.s. establishment i think it goes beyond electoral politics and i think the obama administration and the pentagon are having a carefully calibrated approach that won't again with regime change the republicans and democrats share the same objective one is more demagogue. a militant against

iran and they both share the same objective which is to bring iran back into an americans fear of influence and i think the republicans can't move obama that much because obama actually has the backing of the pentagon in terms of this particular approach the pentagon is bogged down in afghanistan they really were pushed out of iraq they have a lot of a lot of military problems a major full scale war right now which could happen even if they don't intend it by people climb the escalation ladder. cultures that so much like you. were to take your pick the ones with britain and argentina again sparring over the legal status of future these islands is this disputed.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. it's.

twelve thirty am in moscow these are your r.t. headline russia's foreign minister voices fear is that a repeat of the libyan scenario could come to pass in syria sergey lavrov says a number of alleged incidents could be used as a pretext to justify foreign intervention against the assad regime. a fresh wave of downgrade sweeps the struggling euro zone six nations get their debt ratings cut by moody's all while greece faces further belo hurdles from the e.u. despite the latest harsh austerity plan that caused public outrage and mass riots.

russia's military predicts the west might decide on an iran strike before summer anti-riot the rhetoric has been stepped up after israel accused the islamic state of being behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel and today's blast in bangkok. coming up a chance to learn more about the incredibly diverse spectrum of culture and religion in a rush hour special report this time from the republic of mariella where a community culture clash has been overcome through shared faith. this is how people of many ethnic groups prayed in ancient times what are you. today this is the sort of worship that can only be found in this russian region.

of earth or whatever they were not allowed to worship in soviet times people like us who did were put on trial we hope open air prayers will avert floods quakes and manmade disasters or. services like the use a rooted in ancient history these words were first spoken nearly a thousand years ago but the worship is gathering here now a thought to be europe's lost pagans. are not online or in. often his family are about to set out on a journey one that's been a thousand years in the making. many others living in this republic will do

the same just as their ancestors have done over the centuries. yevgeny and his wife vera live in a small village called if. it's a republican about eight hundred kilometers east of moscow. i. was. the most live in russia under a finnish. there are two main groups highlanders and lo and us was i. believe they belong to the same ethnic group they speak different languages and live in different regions of the accompli. these people spend most of their lives behind desks in the city. the monotony is

too much and they decide to take a trip to get away from it all and dozens of like minded folk find one another through an internet site calling themselves the rumors that explore their land and study its history. this eventually will take the traveling local historians to the most mysterious places in the larry elder a public. historian. joins the nomads on the freeway as they leave the city he's promised to show them the most fascinating routes on the map. hello i haven't seen you for ages where did you bring this cold from what you know it was minus one celsius yesterday and now it's minus a team could you please show us our route. we go here and then we will start with few times then we have to go off the roads here because that means there's a fork in yours and you're so extreme coming here in such cold weather.

now we're going to try to reach the most interesting places our chief destination is the top most point of marielle where we will look for cousins and cars caves. the republic's highest point is mount. only a few people have succeeded in reaching its peak it saw that this mountain often leads people astray during this expedition three vehicles lost their way the drivers went missing and the walkie talkies weren't working. people often get lost in this area they just lose their bearings there is something odd going on when we can't establish contact with one another either by phone or walkie talkie when you want to. however all the explorers eventually reunite. according to them in marielle is considered a zone of abnormal activity local people often see unidentified flying objects here

at the corner of mario is at the altitude of two hundred eighty four meters above sea level is the true apex of the more he wore a large sum of medicine fuel be surrounding landscape. forward movement was only eve of the old mary press service there and you. visit. the capital of mary l. the convention of some musicians they sing merry folk songs to entertain the residents with their traditional melodies centuries ago. was a fortress now it's an old tell but large scale development has recently begun. a large swamp has been replaced with an embankment buildings looking like castles complete with towers and ramparts sprang up here just

a short time ago with us. this is a kind of renai sorts. this place is incorporated many aspects of venice. and here we see a northern influence with danish and dutch elements. similar buildings went up in the mary ellen republic quite a long time ago one example is a magnificent old castle standing on the banks of the volga two hundred kilometers from york. it was built amidst a thick forest by russian eristic rats of the share much of that. was that the council was built not only by russian masters but also by foreign ones but it being made to land the style to the castle. here you can see the rock is then time and

drama. as well as an alter russian style. in soviet times the castle was turned into a holiday resort but tourists were apprehensive about the building local people spoke of ghostly inhabitants who they believed to be the castles guardians. today the castle is as imposing as it ever was the mess of doors leading into hollow rooms still produce a sinister creak. but there are ghosts in all castle. we hear the door screw keen as they move from room to room. but they don't bother us we share a common ground and get along with them quite well.

in the village of where you have jennie and derek a mention coffee live everybody is getting ready for the ole marie press office. cough cleans his body and above else before facing one of the most important events in his life that's daybreak he will take part in one of the most pain shouldn't of sacred rights for the marri people. to moral take a candle to the secret group the mr weeks were such candles are made of him candles bought from shops are no good for this purpose they should be homemade. the candle symbolizes the link between me and god it will take my prayer to him. and your is mighty is your for giving a mother a blessing in her son's life giving god it's interesting when you hear the question unlike christians who pray in church these worshipers go to a grove where they seek communion with nature but before setting out they say

a brief prayer and. everybody coming to the grove brings domestic water fowl with them they serve as food for both the gods and the people who have guinea convention off has decided to sacrifice the fattest gives him his household if the maori regard geese and ducks as symbols of harmony between three basic elements these creatures walk on earth swim in water and fly through the air. down. here eight hundred animals were sacrificed here including a blue coffee and a ram as well as nice and ducks. one woman from the romas team has a good knowledge of the areas and she provides

a running commentary for them that said at the prince services taking place near the five sacred trees each tree is dedicated to a particular diety. everyone carefully follows the guides words as they take in the sights along the way because it was clear all too ground was on the left hand side people praying the sacred place as soon as we get to the religious time that. the special day that the committee of couple has been looking forward to as arrived at last. vera and you have jenny have reached the sacred grove situated a hundred kilometers from your. they thought was a fellow to sacrifice birds have also been brought by mary from all over the republic also the two off the press to their gods. at first the grove

resonates with goose oaks soon after their only the echoes of the priestly prayers . these pagan priests know how to communicate with the gods people praying in a grove of lost amidst pines and birches have strong beliefs in the forces of nature they insist on their faith it is the world's oldest. people come with what we call sacrificial waterfowl. bring our desires he's in grievances along to us i discuss their problems with the priest. and communicate by means of this tree most of the board with us their requests and wishes on that this table are. enormous pot suspended if a bone finds the lips side by side with the old since there used to make porridge

and a ceremonial meat broth. take a look at the docks and he's a boy who hears. the break up the by. into chunks and tossed the pieces into the fire the bread and cheese has been brought to by washing peers. this is help people in russia worship before the arrival of christianity the maori have prayed the same way to their gods for several millennia if you want any and all these people are offering prayers to many gods none of which is that five spuds have been set aside for bonfires in this group for example a lot more. in this one they pray to the god show. so should i want to bear asking for his grace in childbirth and happiness. i don't know what. the skin is on the organs of the birds or criminy to in the bond funds it's

forbidden to take any leftovers from the sacrificial offerings from the grow. more news today once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. the giant corporations are today.

wealthy british style it's time to. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on our.

district in the southwest of madill is full of historic sites and rich and legends but the shortest road then ends on the shore of the volga the great russian river. from here affair is needed local pigeons have even memorised the boat shed there's a flux of regularly hitches a ride from one shore of the volga to the other. i am. i am. was. was. people here take pride in the fact that nearly all local women learn to play the flute from a young age it's a very ancient and traditional musical instrument in the old days it strings were

made from animal entrails or force her locals insist that ghostly music reveals the full character of the people on the. plane has been handed down from generation to generation you know that there are very many music players here we call this place to land. is a well known village and. the road that ran right through the village used to be called the shackle road it was a convict taken on to siberia as a result it was also named the siberian route. this road formed a link between russia's capital and its siberian part. connected the country's western and eastern region it's.