united states iran's nuclear program is under our international atomic energy agency inspectors and the work that they had previously done according to the u.s. intelligence community on nuclear weapons it's been suspended so at present iran's nuclear program is not a major threat to united states the concern is that it could very rapidly become one how rapidly in less than a year according to some estimates and other estimates more than a year a lot depends on whether you're talking about the production of material the highly enriched uranium for a bomb or an actual deliverable weapon a deliverable weapon would take longer production of fissile material could you know within a few few months produce enough or for a bomb within a few months both in a few weeks americans will be heading to the polls to vote for a new u.s. president or keep the current one in the white house many believe that israel has seen this time as

a window of opportunity to strike iran dragging the u.s. into a war is there still a threat that it would do so in the main remaining weeks i think the concern about a possible israeli strike was higher a few weeks ago the israelis are now dissolving their parliament and calling for new elections on january twenty second so this i think changes a lot of the previous calculation of people that thought the israeli government might act before the u.s. elections i think now tend to believe wait until at least after u.s. elections if not actually after the new israeli elections now opinions vary but do you think iran has an intention to acquire a nuclear bomb i mean this is literally the sixty four thousand dollar question you know there's a pretty good read on what iran's capabilities in terms of uranium enrichment are the big question which i don't think anyone can give a highly confident answer to is does iran want a what people refer to as a threshold capability in other words its ability. produce

a nuclear weapon quickly or do they want an actual deployed weapon according to u.s. intelligence community and most other observers iran just hasn't made that decision in part because they don't need to and they want to get to that threshold capability before they make any decisions about whether to go to go farther than that threshold because there's no point making that decision early in fact it might be detected by western intelligence and so you could tip your hand before you get to that threshold so i think that decision has been made you don't seem to be putting the threat level of iran's nuclear program as high as some u.s. officials the republican candidates for example mitt romney and his vice presidential candidate paul ryan have been in past weeks essentially saying that iran is a major grave threat are they exaggerating at all with their rhetoric i don't think there's a tremendous amount of exaggeration that iran is a threat generally i mean you know the united states and iran have had

a pretty hostile relationship for three decades actually more than three decades now they have you know had problematic relations in the gulf they've had conflict via proxies in iraq so i think it's not wrong to say iran is a threat the question is whether rod's nuclear program is a real threat to the united states at the present and it isn't at the present but the concern is as i said it could very quickly become a threat so let's go back to your report according to the findings an extended u.s. military strike on iran's nuclear facilities whether alone or in concert with israel could set back iran's nuclear program for four years but it still would not guarantee that iran would not eventual acquire a nuclear bomb why is that it's because the technology iran already has some pieces and parts they need to acquire from overseas but unless you can guarantee that you can kill off everyone in iran that has. knowledge of these programs and their

ability to produce these basic components such as aluminum rotors you can't guarantee that that the program can never be restarted so you can destroy what they have now but their ability to rebuild that even if you can make it take a very long time to rebuild that's what can't be destroyed what kind of long term military commitment with the us have to make to ensure that iran would never be able to build a nuclear bomb i mean it would be similar to what happened with iraq the only way to ensure a country does not acquire a nuclear weapon is to is to forcibly change the regime and go in on the ground occupy yes that's the that's the only way to one hundred percent be sure that the current iranian regime never acquires a nuclear weapon so we're talking about a ten year war. what they. potentially could be iran is a larger country than both iraq and afghanistan combined so if you're talking about a war that would certainly be on that scale where there would be ten times harder not quite as hard who knows but it would be a very substantial military commitment should the u.s.

be concerned about iran's unconventional war capabilities i think the united states is definitely be concerned about iran's unconventional war capabilities by its nature its harder to sort of define what unconventional war capabilities are and you can count airplanes you can count missiles unconventional it's a little harder to judge but iran has a robust capability for unconventional war they have special operations forces they have clandestine services they have a variety of capabilities to conduct attacks without you know not in this sort of typical military way at the end of the day is this really just a problem for israel iran possible determination of acquiring nuclear weapons or is this a problem for the u.s. as well i think it's a problem for the entire world i mean certainly the you know the entire world has has asked iran to clarify its intentions and has taken steps i think it's a much bigger problem for israel than the united states if for no other reason than proximity in the skies you know israel is a country of you know about the you know in terms of populations the size of new

york city and geographically it's quite small it's quite close so i think it's a much bigger problem for israel that it is for the united states but that doesn't make it not a problem for the united states and the rest of the world how much would a war with iran cost the u.s. economy it's very difficult to tell but you know our estimates that even a modest war would would hurt the u.s. economy in part because it would drive up oil prices even a modest in terms of duration spike in oil prices you know the u.s. recovery right now is quite fragile the world recovery is sort of stalled in places . making modest recovery in others so a big spike in oil prices even if it was only for a few weeks would certainly. damage the u.s. economy if it were a longer extended commitment and big disruption in oil then it would be much more also to the global economy to the global economy and then there's the actual dollar figure to conduct military operations right now in flying planes dropping bombs these things are are not incredibly expensive but neither are they cheap so it

would it would there would be a it would be a substantial costly thing so i want to ask you a question that politicians always reject to answer does israel have nuclear weapons capacity it's something that the israelis have been opaque on by design throughout their history i think most outside observers would say that the israelis do have a nuclear weapons capacity even if it's one that's never really been deployed or tested and as you mentioned benjamin netanyahu has dissolved the parliament in israel with new elections expected as in january february twenty second and what the how much do you think that will play into the israel iranian conflict i think i think this coming israeli elections will hinge heavily on on what to do about iran the netanyahu government will have some decisions to make they could be they could be very bold and take action as a caretaker government i think most observers don't think they will and in fact a lot of the campaign will be about what to do about the iranian nuclear program.

so i think that's i think will be a huge issue in determining the future of israeli iranian relations so if israel has a stockpile of nuclear weapons as many have reported and iran has not even if you're on board to build one wouldn't there be somewhat of a deterrence policy in place why would israel consider still striking iran the belief is you know if both sides have nuclear weapons no no no one side is going to be foolish enough to use them knowing they're going to face retaliation by the other side of the u.s. soviet union the idea of mutually assured destruction i think the israelis are deeply uncomfortable with this because it doesn't take. hundreds of nuclear weapons to functionally destroy israel as i said israel's a very small country a handful of nuclear weapons maybe even only one nuclear weapon some people refer to israel as a one bomb country could do the same damage it would require hundreds of nuclear weapons to do to a much larger country so i think their concern is why take any risk that maybe the

current leadership in iran is completely rational but maybe a future one won't be why take any risk that there could be these kind of miscalculations in a confrontation so say there's a then israeli iranian equivalent of a cuban missile crisis say over hezbollah or syria and instead of ending in a in a sort of tense standoff that resolved peacefully as in the cuban missile crisis this one actually results in the exchange of nuclear weapons think the israeli attitude is you know we have maintained all along we will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the region we don't want anyone else to do so either because why take the risk you know when u.s. president barack obama was addressing the u.n. general assembly and he was speaking how i think iran has said time for negotiations is not unlimited what do you think he meant by that i mean it's you think that there is some kind of deadline a date that. i don't think there's an exact date but i do think that patience for negotiations particularly after the last round over the summer is sort of wearing

thin the iranians put forward a proposal allegedly some of the iranians deny it some don't it's kind of tough to tell sometimes what the iranians are actually saying but the proposal would have called for the lifting of most sanctions in exchange for suspension of many of the more worrisome activities of the iranian nuclear program and the president said look we you know this isn't this isn't serious we're not going to remove everything that gives us leverage in exchange for these minor concessions so i think the feeling is look we will give diplomacy all the time in the world if it's actually working but if it's just a way for the iranians to stall and by the way over the summer iran greatly increase the radio. putting centrifuges into one of its enrichment plants so i think that's the feeling it's not that there's a specific date but if it looks like all the iranians are doing is using negotiations as a way to sort of buy time i think that's when the president will say look we've given diplomacy you know all the time in the world it hasn't worked here report

indicated that a u.s. military strike against iran would motivate the country to build a bomb if that is the case doesn't this threatening rhetoric coming from u.s. and israeli officials also cause damage i think the idea is to calibrate the threat and maybe the united states hasn't always done the best job but the idea is you know you apply all of these levers of persuasion sanctions the threat of military action to say look this isn't a good path to go down let's find another path but you're absolutely right that if you you know if you're trying to convince somebody to do something or else you're going to carry out a threat you don't want to believe in you're going to carry out the threat anyway right because why would you ever agree to anything if you think you're going to be attacked anyway so it's it can be tricky you're right to calibrate that rhetoric that you know if you do x. we will do y. but if you don't do x. we won't do well dr austin long thank you very much for speaking with r.t. thanks very much as a great pleasure i. i

. i. i. the sun rises over what seems like and list forest here in the new directions quite hundred kilometers north of light of all stalk as in much of the world it's disappearing and a cow was struck with great. bloggers both illegal and those finding ways to outsmart the system filing down the forests of the region for them profit goes well beyond the future of our planet and the result could be an ecological crisis the world wildlife fund for nature makes right . their trips to help local rangers do what little they can to stop the logging but it's not easy longer set up trucks making them hard to reach in an already rough terrain and have mastered ways to jump through legal loopholes this is a nature reserve were only sanitary logging of disease trees is

a lie out according to law and not a single berry can be picked but loggers like this use their sanitary logging permit to cut down absolutely healthy trees and sell the profitable timber over the border in china we are on the hunt for illegal loggers and it's not going to be easy to forests. and our chances are slim now for now we can stay in our dreams but as soon as we find solid tracks we'll have to drop our wheels and get out silently in order not to scare the loggers off alexander some morning has been a ranger for over twenty five years he can spend weeks at a time tracking a single group of loggers easier to work when snow falls in autumn it's impossible to find human tracks and even transport tracks are hard to see after hours of driving we get sent in the right direction by word of mouth you can see that the ground is soft here which means that the twelve tractor trails are very fresh which in fact means that we need to be quiet in order to not scare them off as we get

closer. this team says they're illegal but have no documents now xander can now call the police to take over his work here is done overwhelmingly outnumbered there are too few rangers working in the region and the w w f says the government isn't doing enough to stop it the government now for more whole forest. forest and according to. the guys in the forest to this still. doesn't. you. know what no one tries to stop them in just five years the force will be gone they'll sell it all to china what will the people who live afterwards do like it's a question more and more people are aware of today climate change and the safety of our environment as a whole are being discussed around the world and perhaps it's those small steps

that might be a start to people living in harmony with nature. the town is seen to be a dozens of civilians reports and it killed endangered enclosures as a pro-government militia ponza could jump in on its downfall the two weeds. there so it comes exactly i guess as nato bombs they feel were rushing from office promising freedom and democracy to an event unfold and. also the russian company will snap is one step closer to becoming the world's leading producer as the board of b.p. reportedly greenlights one of the biggest ever entreating. under cop lost in lebanon's capital kills a people including a top security official violent protests erupt across the country and politicians

say the syrian conflict is spinning out with. more news of the ten minutes for you now it's time for sport without injury. they're welcome to the sport and these are the headlines strike a light spot up morse code miss top scorer emmanuel in many cases at a crucial trip to russian prime illegally and g. . plus fighting for the final caroline wozniacki some studies and the event of h. are among the stars gunning for glory at the semi's at the crime new car. and on the double mikhail valma called strikes twice the torpedo as they sink placement side after mobilise and make a. plow after the international break action regimes in the russian premier league today with table toppers and g. getting ready to kick off against spartak who are missing their top scorer emmanuel

m. in the k. the capital club will also miss our limited feel that aiden mcgeady well and she will look to go five points clear to skim off the top after hitting side grab the lead for the first time in their history last month i maintain their position with it to new victory at the naama a fortnight ago sparta six but should they win they could go level on points with third place tara elsewhere defending champions any welcome informed and well you might expect gold between crossings and lanny is their respective strike if you are obviously and they need a nickel connected nine times that haven't appeared to say far this season on top the league's goal scoring chart. in london center half john terry begins his four much ban and misses chelsea's lunchtime dobby a top number spurs manager under to be a spoiler space is his former club for the first time while later champions manchester city in four west brawled with manager roberto mancini full of praise for the baggies rookie boss steve clarke. to dream because you do

good job. in this moment to do that. it's wrong which is the best team that played the best for the world and tomorrow for us would be a tough game that the russian women's football team are just two games away from qualifying for their first major tournament in three years they've gone to austria for the first leg of their play off on sunday with the winner going through to next year's european championships in sweden porfiry caught up with some of the plays both on and off the pitch. you could pretty nearly no have been friends since childhood but footballing careers have taken very similar parts so it was no surprise for bay ended up as roommates but it might not be five star accommodation provides police on the minds ahead of such a big game and we aren't nervous going into the game we are fully relaxed and ready to go out onto the field and get the victory that we need that is to get out in the

group stages who played against italy didn't put in a good performance and lost their game elsewhere in qualifying menage to beat the mess noone else very comfortably. but we drew our last match against poland but the game against austria will be a real test but we must win we have been preparing very hard for this encounter yelena force about becoming a model before she decided to pursue a career in football however the twenty seven year old is now one of the mainstays of her country's defense we know you could pretty near fancied herself as a hairdresser but she hasn't had the chance again as her circuit career has taken center stage after a friend of hers employs her to play almost two decades ago when i was younger i would always play football with a voice they were shocked at first that a girl could play so well but now things have obviously changed my friends are really happy when i am playing and if the game is on television they will call me to congratulate me and say well done the players are well looked after their training base which also hosts

a number of other national teams from different sports in russia there is none of the luxury but the russian men's team enjoy is based on the best five star hotels in the world. it is not a profession in russia but the girls can concentrate on getting better and better. more and more people are starting to which we went through bill in russia if i'm being honest i would like if more people took up an interest in our game when we play broad we instantly notice how the home crowd supports the country and the lift it gives them so they will fill out whole stadium it's completely the opposite in russia with perhaps a couple of exceptions where the market would give very well and lots of people come to support us you could even really you know two of the more experienced members of russia scared they'll be hoping to help their country new heights over the next week russia's women's football team will play one of the most important games in years as very. very look to qualify for the first major finals in four years once football is growing in popularity in russia but women do manage to

qualify for the european championships in sweden in two thousand and thirteen but will only help to boost the popularity of the game richard darcy. good luck to them now it's semi finals day at the kremlin cup will see sweden syfy arvidson take on the former world number one caroline wozniacki knocked out the last remaining russian marie kurylenko on friday kurylenko will see this seven home tournament but the twenty five year old said later on that she was ill after committing twice as many unforced errors as her opponent six three six three so next up is was the at ski the day in the last things the back is dominique is to bulk of in three sets to reach the last four so quick that they're not the same draw by the top seed some stones will play another former world number one in the other match there in the men's semi that will see the fourth seed thomas baluchi playing evoke a torn favorite and to be a separate. place in the final. let's get the latest

action from the cage we're told are back to winning ways a brace for mikail of an arc of earning them a five three win over after being released after winning for the. plato had lost the last two coming into this match but they started well enough and you can't really nice people of open the school early on but after moby least instantly responded stannis in. putting them to one up however a was a see saw go was flee when one for no of course got his first the sides were tied by the end of the first period i took it i think crept in front and the second frank thanks to a leg see this and no victory for the second in the final for a five three when. i speak in seven matches they are in the western conference while often at the least some of the east. in other games you get a. beat don't you ask for that. one i knowing gold

at home to make me. and two assists from alexander and i have all done go help to scar overcome yet. another nice him key have got their first win in basketball surely they hung on for a narrow eighty six eighty five win over reanimate trade in russia he had lost their opening game in group a but made up for it with an improbable win against rio in front of their home fans in the moscow region the russians were looking comfortable in the third period in one stage eighteen points ahead however reale went on a sixteen point run in the final frame and just came up short in the final seconds when grief and and as mr flow to hear him keep hanging on hanging on them for a narrow eighty six eighty five picture. we were up a lot of the. beginning and i mean we should accept their lead but it's good to win especially at home especially if you're always against budget but his friend about

top group at the moment after they beat jean in limpia for their second winter games they sleep. getting the better of armani all star have a hundred percent record their. top their first win in that group against a live. load has crashed out of the rally of italy the citron hit a rock on the second day of this season's penultimate race and his finish to make me go home and took full advantage of the end of day fifteen seconds clear at the top of the time sheets however loeb has little to worry about after securing his record ninth straight world title with picture with his home rally of france earlier this month and the thirty eight year old plans to take part only in his favorite rallies next year. there's a new face at the top of the leaderboard at gold's macleod very classy can they get someone who is fighting to keep his tour card for next season india's arjun atwal

had a spectacular sixty three in georgia to take a one shot lead at the halfway stage he needs a big win with just two left to be sure of qualifying for the p.g.a. tour next season overnight laid a marker dawson who's also in the same boat faded badly in the seven shots back however davis love the third here did show some for his sixty six puts him within a shot of the lead along with jim furyk who is tied with him in second. so that's all the sport in iowa for later. wealthy british style stock.

markets. can. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on r g m and so check the latest city in europe on the host of the twenty fourteen winter the pick a. c. such . a. dog days are. days it. takes to come. to

see if it's so true. you know fashionable side. radioactive fallout of government betrayal of the government. and law how can the truth be revealed if there's no official evidence there was indeed a very bright day to the servicemen concert who was given no problem protection and to the people of this country generally because of radio like the full. the secrets of the tests.

more news today violence is once again flared up. and these are the images. from the streets of canada. corporations are today. please mother little. luck if you cut

a little looking to. her. live. live. her life. her little little .