it was a little bit there wasn't a problem you know they were always greeted. well syrian president bashar al assad speaks exclusively to our t. about his and his country's future saying he's not a western puppet and warning the foreign intervention would have global questions. barack obama slaps new sanctions on iran in one of his first foreign policy decisions since his reelection while lawmakers plan even more severe restrictions. and libya telt itself as a tourist destination just weeks after a deadly siege and clashes in the town of bani walid.

who world news line from our moscow headquarters are watching r t with me the conference of well the syrian president says that western states are used to creating enemies and they're motivated by their very own interests in an exclusive interview with r t bashar al assad predicts a global catastrophe should foreign powers intervene in his country let's get more on this now from our sophie shevardnadze she spoke to the embattled leader in damascus sophie fascinating interview to watch especially considering how how dire the situation has gotten on the ground there how does the syrian president see his future and the future of his country hi lucy well from what i understood this is what he said he said that he's not a western puppet and he's going to stand by his principles he also refuses to accept the fact that there's a civil war in the country saying it's not a civil war we're fighting terrorism we're fighting different different fractions of terrorist. and he did for size that the financing for those terrorist groups was

president did any unprecedented and it was coming from abroad he also said that if the financing that he would probably only need two weeks to restore peace in syria . he also said that if that were to if the west were to intervene militarily would have a domino effect from atlantic to pacific and that would be no one's interest let's listen what he had to say. i wasn't told that there wasn't a problem you know. it was because we knew that. for different reasons they want to create a new. problem with the president so he has to do both of you have to focus on. this. well now of course the syrian situation isn't just of concern to the country itself neighboring countries are quite on alert about how this war could impact

them what or what about the relations with neighboring countries what developed national also i'd say about that well it's very interesting because i asked him i was like you know it's not just the west but a lot of countries have betrayed you on the first occasion why do you have some so many enemies in the arab world he said well actually a lot of arab countries support me but they're afraid to say it out loud. and i asked him why and he said because you know they're all under the strength and power of petrodollars i also asked him about turkey and if the war with turkey was a real possibility and he didn't he doesn't believe that there's going to be an actual war with gore here but he also emphasizing the fact that the turkish people are the enemies of syrian people and they're always been a friendly nation it's carried on and his government that's the problem and that's against bashar and wants to all special because god wants to reassure his and strengthen his political position in turkey and in the region. personally.

and you can truly dream of people doing both when you pull you. differently. which is. slimy but not gold money not to be ready for what do you hope you think about the study from well you know of course presidential also doesn't give interviews to the media all that often and i think the question on everyone's mind sophy is whether he regrets any of his actions in really handling this crisis what's your take on that well i asked him i ask him do you regret anything what's your biggest mistake he says of course i have regrets and of course i have made mistakes but when i ask him what is your biggest mistake he wouldn't give me a precise answer he said it's too early to talk about precise mistakes and for size regrets because the war were the conflict is still going on i also asked him if he were to turn the clock back to fifteenth of march or eleventh of march that's when the protests started to escalate would he do anything differently and he said no i wouldn't because within the marches within the protest marches there were people

who started to shoot innocent civilians and the government forces so the government army had no other choice than to respond with force. so do what i do exactly the same for exactly the same just. different approaches two for twelve and just against the terrorist group but i always thought you didn't thought as most because you will lose most but will be in bill's most with. militants with help with the civilians and at the same time. yeah so like i said he said that he has no precise regrets so far and he cannot point out one mistake that he's made but i he wouldn't change much about a year and a half ago when the protests started to grow and escalate he would do exactly the same while doing exactly the same those were the words from president bashar al assad host sophie shevardnadze thank you so much for taking the time. all right we can watch of course the full exclusive interview with syria's president in about

twenty minutes right here on our t.v. it's also available anytime on our website that's our team dot com. three of them. i mean if you have to be fancy you know good student but. did you get our two exclusive friday through sunday on r t r t dot com well u.s. lawmakers are reportedly working on a new financial and trade sanctions against iran which would prevent the country from doing business with much of the world now this would be on top of the latest round of restrictions just imposed by washington and this of course comes right after the pentagon had revealed that iranian warplanes tried to shoot down a u.s. drone and you are iran's border last week are she's going to check out and has more . president obama's first moves after he won reelection have pretty much indicated that in the next four years he will aggressively pursue the idea of the u.s. being the world police the administration has imposed financial sanctions against

the iranian officials with the u.s. blames for jamming satellite broadcast and blocking internet access any rain that comes on top of a whole bunch of other sanctions that have been put in place by the u.s. which are proved to be crippling for the ukrainian economy and the population there is suffering a great deal because of that while campaigning president obama indicated that he didn't want to go to war with iran but that he would continue the sanctions policy and that's what he's doing we heard reports that the obama administration might engage in direct talks with iran at some point but there has been no confirmation of that. threatens to attack iran and the u.s. appears to be stopping them some argue that the u.s. might be playing a good cop bad cop diplomatic game there anyway the administration's strategy appears to be to make iran so desperate that they would agree to anything but sanctioning iran was probably not president obama's very first move after winning this election government officials here say said on wednesday a u.s. drone strike targeted

a group of al qaida militants in yemen and the president had to authorize that and possibly he did that within hours after his reelection the use of drones has been highly controversial it's quite clear not everybody hit by those drones are terrorists and the administration so far has been far from transparent on how they pick the targets and basically authorize executions overseas the u.n. has raised concerns about the legality of such executions there has been a lot of criticism especially after numerous reports of civilian deaths in the meantime this administration is said to rely on drones more and more and other drone related story this week the pentagon said the reunion military had fired upon but did not hit a u.s. drone flying close to the pentagon claimed the drone was there on a surveillance mission. so looking at some of president obama's first moves after real action one could say he takes the idea of america being the world police very seriously but the question is who's going to hold that world police itself

accountable. those are going to you can the u.s. has so far failed to use the bargaining opportunity that sanctions potentially have that's according to resume russia he's a research director at the national iranian american council you can continue to ramp up the sanctions on iran but sanctions ostensibly are supposed to provide leverage at the negotiating table if you're not using them as a negotiating chip when you're at the negotiating table then all they are is a blunt instrument the ends of adversely affecting the lives of innocent iranian people this is the first instance in which we've seen obama move forward on sanctions and it remains to be seen whether or not he doubles down on the diplomatic track of his policy to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis but we haven't seen to date tangible evidence of these sanctions causing the iranian government to change strategic calculus on its regional policies or on more specifically its nuclear policy and that's supposed to be the goal that's the metric of success that both the bush administration and the

obama administration have defined seen the obama administration really ramp up the amount of drone usage you know whether it is yemen or pakistan or even today we saw a report of the iranian government shooting at an american drone that was off of its coast so we're in uncharted waters when it comes to policy american policy related to drones and until we have some rules to this game that the international community can abide by you know playing off the same script that increases the likelihood of a conflict that the united states and the international community i think would independently seek to avoid. and look coming up it's all in the name that's at least for one us citizen who's stuck and cut are we find out how what you are called to actually link it to criminal activity and bar you from entering your own country details on the story after the break.

recently protests and demonstrations of any kind were banned until further notice and by crane a curfew as in you can't go out of your home when the government doesn't want you to has already been in effect in the country since two thousand and eleven many of the protests which are now totally forbidden were related to members of the public demanding the release of political prisoners four people were also recently arrested for insulting the king over twitter wow a middle eastern country that has totally shut down any form of protest and huts you down if you tweet about the leadership so it's pretty undemocratic to me i bet nato is already fueling up ready to take action bombs and freedom into warmer eight well not really if nato really cared about spreading democracy you'd think they'd be more consistent with their targets but that's just my opinion.

the issue is that so much is because of which of course he's right on it so you wrong obama winning decisive victory returning him to the white house for another four years what accounts for this big three was it a well run campaign in changing that. i mean so. can only a city in europe and a host of the twenty fourteen winter the picket. see. such. a. dog days or. days it. takes

a common. theme song see it's so true. wealthy british stock. markets. can. find out what's really happening to the global economy max concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines two kinds of reports.

by watching our t.v. live from moscow with me the sick half now of all the libyan town of bani walid is still struggling to heal the scars of the siege which took place less than one month ago libya has actually been promoted as a new travel hotspot believe it or not artists are firth visit of the world travel market in london to find out why tour operators remain silent on that tragedy we're here at the world travel market a trade show you taking place in london or people can come and select their holiday inspiration that scouts exotic spot for a honeymoon a one country you probably wouldn't expect to see being touted as a tourist destination and that's libya the places where the tourist interesting the

site is a political fight so it's. going to do it's got to be saved more than even dollars breakdowns like london new york but there's somewhere that is not mentioned in the guide book bani walid a desert town is remaining loyal to formally to colonel gadhafi it's just a few hours drive southeast of the traditional tourist destination tripoli but it's a world away from the safe environment the two guides of pitching. the towns become the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the libyan uprising last year but despite reports of indiscriminate shelling and gas attacks on the local population at the hands of the libyan army there's been an almost total media blackout in the . r.t. run story for more than a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and despite libya being showcased it seems that bani walid has once again being conveniently left out of the conversation when i saw this. it was

a goes surprise and i came to two hours of feedback of the situation at the moment in libya and if we have so many people. means situations they could be coming most and we can think for next season to do something with and it's a wonderful country so we would about what's happening in bani walid at the moment when you were lead do what do you mean what's happening is being happening there's been fighting do you know about that no we went to confront the tour operator i saw you speaking some people eat telling them about what's been happening in bani walid at the moment. this is a club. that's come for the future. there's a reason because it was deeply disturbing is that despite a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations the k. media and government remain resolutely silent they've got to sort of package wish

as a success is very important for nato so we have the should. of these countries have been liberated in inverted commas as great places to go great places to invest and the reality for the everyday person in these countries is a living hell really pick up one of the travel information then you will be given reasons to visit libya and undoubtedly there are many there's a concerning silence this being a case by the u.k. media a seeming refusal to talk about what's been happening in places like bani walid the reality is that the new government is struggling to control its militias and bridge the deep divides the remain in the country but none of that you're going to read about in a. surf artsy london. while the libyan government says bani walid will soon recover all locals actually believe that their current state is far from normal r.t. spoke to a man who wanted to go by the name faraj was in contact with his relatives in the stricken town and says that the fighting is still not over faraj of course not his

real name out of safety concerns is currently in egypt and has asked not to be identified for fears again of his safety. government of the suborder to the. militias. attacking and killing innocent citizens in the city leave you. out of. this included minutes in food and other life in the sixty's they have this doing with guns and bullets and use. of body would eat this is a given store their definition of these. high use difference and know the photo and night and the young fellow who tool to another who do.

and because he didn't do it isn't the only good the united states is was trying to steal. their cities with dumbass and the guns into body down the different where they know now and i mean the government of libya. well any human rights activists continues to a weak state the trial of the bill of rights job who's been under arrest since july resume in a month's time after thursday's hearings you can find out more about logging on to our website r t v dot com also for you there a new frontier astronomers discover a planet seven times the size of earth which could support human life more on that on our website or. well an american now living and working in qatar has been barred from traveling home to visit his sick mother long

who is an air force veteran has been placed on the federal no fly list without any explanation now adam soltani from the council of american islamic relations believes that his muslim name is what makes him an undesirable person when it comes to the united states. there is no indication of any reason for him to be on this no fly list he has never been convicted of any criminal activity he has served his country for ten years in the u.s. air force and he has indicated that there is nothing he can think of that would link him to anything criminal in nature you know there are cases care has dealt with in the past of individuals who were placed on a no fly list sometimes it just has to do with the name their name may sound like someone who was affiliated with criminal activities or or something of the sort we've never really been given answers by the f.b.i. and the department of homeland security so we're not one hundred percent sure it's kind of speculation at this point but nevertheless you know he's indicated that he is a law abiding u.s. citizen and really cannot think of anything that would prevent him from travel.

well russia's joint chief of staff has become the latest high ranking official to fall in the wake of a corruption scandal that is shaking this country's military that's follows the sacking of the form of the defense minister and the new man in the job has already started a major reshuffle of the ministry but meanwhile the at the investigation house found ten new cases of illegal sale of ministry assets costing millions of dollars in losses are former explains. these are part of a lot of plans by crazy thieves in sci fi and in this instance they do extend rights in russia really it's a fairly it's a very good as simple as appealing to the armed forces general style chief who will be his the sponsibility color only joy to see reforms in the army and also to help weed out of corruption he was appointed by the defense minister sergei sure good to say that good as symbol was a military man from head to head man who is so cool says i'm

a working man he respects even the military and i think the point and the timing of it is significant because police have detained large whose voice will force the sale of minutes realises the allegations that these assays were sold well below market prices to federal security service is also carrying out checks on high ranking officials within the limits raised postulates details to ensure you get a set of misjudging is pretty clear the corruption will not be tolerated and tough measures have all been typed in just one week is that i also understand that it's a defense minister has been appointed by president places in this part of the have an overall shakeup in the russian and it's just. one more news for you in a brief that's our. hundreds of taking to the streets in saudi arabia in memory of fourteen people killed during last year's anti-government protests demonstrators are criticizing the kingdom for refusing to investigate the killings and its stance

on public gatherings now countrywide protest announcing that the regime and supporting political prisoners have grown significantly since last year the government has issued repeated warnings against the rallies promising a strong response. meanwhile a series of explosions have ripped through a chemical plant in a comeback claiming the lives of two people injuring one thousand more a massive initial blast was followed by several smaller ones raising concerns over toxics moke and the contamination around. at this industrial plant the cause of the explosion is not yet known. and university students in chile have clashed with riot police over a new law against an authorised public gatherings to students through petrol bombs or rocks and fireworks at the authorities responded with tear gas legislation would increase punishment for those rallying without government position to as many as three years in prison. and on to china the country should become

a main issue is aiming to become a maritime superpower that's according to the country's outgoing president who didn't who didn't tell his message to the national congress comes ahead of a once in a decade leadership transition the president called on the country to step up its military prowess with a focus on safeguarding its interests at sea now china's defense budget is already the second largest in the world and the country also boasts the world's second largest economy. well in a few minutes we talk exclusively to syrian president bashar al assad show food sophie shevardnadze asks what he thinks is next for his country amid ongoing conflict and threats of foreign intervention. the sun rises over what seems like and last forest but here in new directions cry for hundred kilometers north of light of all storm as in much of the world it's

disappearing at a catastrophic rate. mockers both illegal and those finding ways to outsmart the system for filing down the forest of the more skewed 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 regular trips to help local rangers do what little they can to stop the logging but it's not easy lager 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 we're only sanitary logging of disease trees is allowed 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 to member over the border in china we are on the hunt for illegal loggers and it's not going to be

easy the forest is enormous 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 within 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 the tractor trails are very fresh which in fact means that we need to be quite. 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 he's overwhelmingly outnumbered there are too few rangers working in the promote

the region and the w w f says the government isn't doing enough to stop it i guess the government now is they started city for more whole forest legislation so as soon as the bells and so on the river grabs a new forest called and according to. every forest service the guys in waltham in the in the forest through the still. forest courts deal doesn't work just you what should you do with 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. president

bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to our team today know what's what kind of us kids so you know many people work that stay here and go away you wouldn't make it this far but yet again we're sitting in a newly renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point by any means terrorism and instability in syria this is our enemy talk about people it's not about both. the whole issue is not about me leaving it's about the contribute safe or not so disobey me but we've been fighting us here you know i've been here for the last two days and i had a chance to talk to a couple of people from damascus some of them say that whether you stay or go doesn't really matter at this point anymore what do you say to that i think for the

president to stay or to leave is a popular issue he's not personally sure and the only way to define this is. really through the bottle boxes so it's not about what we hear it's about what we came to get through that box and that box we've killed any president to say only very simply i think what they meant was that at this point you are not the target anymore syria is it wasn't a target there wasn't a problem anyway you know that with all it's created enemies it was communism it became. became for bomb scene for different reasons and now they want to create a new enemy which i saw this is the problem with the president so he has to first of all you have to focus on the real problem with listening to what they say but do you personally believe still believe that you are the only man who can hold syria to.