our top stories this week four or more years brock obama's new term kicks off with a tougher a foreign policy slapping new sanctions on iran and authorizing drone strikes in yemen. syrian president bashar asad pledges to stay in is more and more in homeland don't matter water talks exclusively to our team. and they're staring protests in greece turned violent as the country's parliament backs a new round of stinging spending cuts. and china's current leadership appears to step down to lead younger leaders develop the country's powerhouse economy you know once in a decade power transfer. it

is ten am in the russian capital you're watching r t with me. after the most expensive election campaign in u.s. history brock obama was reelected this week as a u.s. president beating his republican rival mitt romney and oh man he picked obama over romney because of his softer talk on foreign policy he doesn't quite walk the walk as or he's going to take on the reports. in the wake of president obama's reelection there was no sense of euphoria as in two thousand and eight but his victory did come as a relief to most americans his challenger mitt romney was widely seen as more aggressive especially in his foreign policy rhetoric also a seemingly out of touch with middle class america we are on the american family and we rise or fall together as one nation. waiting for him right after reelection is the so-called fiscal cliff a combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts all we need is action from

the house. and i got the pen right to sign the bill right away. but averting the fiscal cliff is probably not the first issue addressed by the president. he also rise the drone strike targeting a group of al qaeda militants in yemen on wednesday the u.n. has raised concerns about the legality of such strikes due to reported heavy civilian casualties on lack of transparency on the u.s. part we're in uncharted waters when it comes to policy american policy related to drones this week the administration imposed financial sanctions against iranian officials so the u.s. planes were jamming satellite broadcasts and blocking internet access in your rant that comes on top of a whole lot of other sanctions that had been put in place by the u.s. which proved to be crippling for the iranian economy the goal is not to change the iranian government's decision making it's actually leverage ordinary civilians against the iranian government and to threaten to topple the government by inciting

you know food riots or you know people who are on happy because they can you know their grandparents are dying and can't get medicine and on friday despite president obama's claims the u.s. should move away from the cold war thinking in relations with russia the white house launched its first permanent military presence on polish soil the issue has been a constant sword in the side of relations between moscow and washington as the u.s. also plans to install missile interceptors in poland but the president every other democrat that i'm aware of is also made it clear that if it needs russia is still opposed to it still sees it as as a we're just going to have to go ahead and do it anyway the president's actions so far have shown while he may be talking soft he's acting tough looking at some of president obama's first moves after reelection one could say he picks the idea of america being the wall police very seriously but the question is who can hold that world police itself accountable in washington i'm going to check on

a democrat or republican in the united states foreign policy stays the same because the president has no real live urge says former member of the reagan administration paul craig roberts. i don't think anything will be any different because you see the united states is not governed by the president or the congress or the political parties it's governed by very powerful private interests is governed by wall street by the military security complex by the israel lobby by agribusiness and by the energy timber and mining. companies and no president no congress can run afoul of these interests so i don't think anything to change nothing really changed the bombing replace bush we continue to develop the police state the suspension of the constitution the laws of due process but he had his caucus balmer

further than those measures when he declared he had the authority to assassinate american citizens without the due process of law he tried to fight into law all of the police state measures that bush asserted and he restarted the war in afghanistan so i don't think anything will change syria's president insists he will not leave his country in an exclusive interview with r.t. bashar assad said only the ballot box can determine his future he also said western powers have picked him as one of their a bogeyman and warned against foreign intervention in syria are to sophie shevardnadze a mets' well the embattled leader in the baskets. this thing that really marked me the most is how really how much more complicated situation inside series that from what we see in the media because i talk to people yes the country is divided and even the people who didn't like us before this conflict started are now so scared that fundamentalists will come to power fundamentalists who are fighting on the

side of the free syrian army and syrian people are not about that i mean this is like the only secular are that had a lot of different religious groups always living in peace with each other whether it's sunni or shia or always or christians so they're really scared that if the army will fall apart and then you know you have this extremist muslims coming to them and asking them to basically be just like them so it's not just about assad i think people feel like whether he goes or stays. it's only can get worse if it goes because it will get i mean the terror attacks will continue and the fundamentalists will come to power so they're very scared of that. that he is not a western puppet he also denies the fact that civil war is taking place in his country saying that it's not a civil war it's a conflict where he has to fight different fractions of terrorism. on the fact that the financing of this terrorist fractions was unprecedented and it was coming from abroad he also said that if the west were to intervene militarily it would have

a do you know if from atlantic to pacific vision it's going. to be more the whole world came before because if you have a problem if you go the flow through. the ability in the region and coexistence. between have the domain or. the pacific you know because you know. it's going. to go but you do so. but you came here what's next bashar al assad to you that are to your exclusive friday through sunday and r.t. dot com while deadly bombings ripped through the syrian city of tehran saturday killing twenty soldiers the opposition was logged in talks in qatar trying to consolidate its alliance against president asad it comes after the syrian national

council the main opposition group came under western pressure to accept a unity plan i met growing frustration from other dissident groups i suppose leader has the details. this essentially is a mission that has been called because many of the international backers of the syrian opposition particularly the united states are unhappy with the deep divisions within the syrian opposition and at this stage it seems as if those divisions are going to prevent the syrian opposition from coming forward with any kind of a viable new opposition body the whole idea of being this meeting in doha was essentially to establish some kind of group within the syrian opposition in exile that would have more direction links with the opposition with inside the country that would be able to distribute aid and funding that the group is being accused of not being representative enough this despite the fact that the main opposition by the the syrian national council did elect a new head and they were also critics who complained at the new legislative body being put forward is not representative enough or does not have enough women and

it's just not have enough minorities between syrian army which is the main armed opposition group in the country meanwhile has threatened the syrian president bashar assad that he'll follow the fate of the former libyan leader moammar gadhafi the first as assad said in an exclusive interview to r.t. that he has no plans to leave office the state media department had said that assad is doomed. to your channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria and his people not managed to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria you'll be lucky if you miss the same fate as market duffy so what witnessing is an increase on the ground in terms of the violence inside syria while the syrian opposition really struggling to try and fall for united group to try and deal with the situation. meanwhile the local over the opposition's local coordination

committees in syria have announced they are withdrawing from the syrian national council the president of the arab lawyers association says western attempts to gain political influence in syria are failing. yes and see the only credibility it had was with the western powers we all remember when the us forced many countries to attend a meeting in turkey to recognize this as the legitimate representative of syria which was part of the political gimmick that the us and the western powers nato france britain were following because what they wanted is the changer for e.g. but this is a unique case where there is a true revolution within syria but those who are recognized by the us and others have absolutely nothing to do with it and so most of them have never been there and most of them have been out of the country for tens of years and the us knew that

and the west knew that but they were still nevertheless recognized as the representative of the people now they have come to realize that actually that evolution is going on in syria there is the i mean there is the people who are revolting in syria and they have no links with the external. people who can a me to represent them so i don't think they had credibility before i don't think it would have credibility at the present moment because this is an attempt to create better of the u. sion ordovician everybody in the west created this something outside and they say they called it a present that. public uproar in greece demonstrators hurled pavel bombs and stun grenades as the country's parliament passes this harry package to security its latest bailout. both of the calm china is going through and once in a decade change of power will bring you more analysis of how the country is on track to become the world's biggest economy these stories and much more after a short break.

usually the police and occupy protesters are like oil and water but in atlanta they've come together to save the house of a former detective jacqueline barber unfortunately miss barbara lost a lot of money battling cancer and was facing eviction when she turned to occupy homes for help so far she's managed to stay in her home despite it being sold out from under her feet but the main thing is that her fight to stay in her home has become like a bridge between two groups who are usually at each other's throats the police and occupiers the thing is the cruel economic practices can affect us all even retired police like ms barber i know there are some irresponsible people who buy things they can't pay for and you know the police have to do something about them but they shouldn't throw you out of your home that you've paid for for years just for

getting cancer no one should have to live with the constant fear that their home will be taken away after years and years of payment just because they got sick and america thought we believed in private property not eternally rented from big banks but that's just my opinion. more news today boylan says once again flared up. and these are the images kobold has been seeing from the streets of canada. showing corporations are all day. i'm in sochi the u.s.

city in europe on the host of the twenty fourteen winter the picture. thank you. so much. thank you. dog days. it's so true. download the official application so choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device to watch on t.v. any time and.

welcome back you are watching r t live from moscow now this week anger and violence once again spilled over onto the streets of athens police used tear gas and water cannon against greeks protesting further of budget cuts demonstrators hurled pepper bombs and stun grenades with more than one hundred detained as the country's parliament parliament passed a sturdy package and at securing the latest bailout the new measures which include a tax hike and pension cuts is said to be the worst so far in three years of the greek debt crisis journalist charlie mcgrath says. the concert will hate further

suffering on the greeks and that the situation won't change for the better until athens acknowledges its bankrupt. we are your people killing themselves in front of parliament in greece you have people that are losing everything using. the last thing to go i think is going to be you know their sense that they have anybody representing them with so far whatsoever you have this tyranny of the technocrat majority inside reason hundred fifty three out of three hundred vote more austerity on the people i think it as they continue to lose all hope that they have any control of their own financial destiny whatsoever how can it be anything but you know digress into but potentially civil war the financial health of the country is not going to change for the better until they realize that they are in default they're bankrupt and they tell the banks that are holding their debt and the european union and the e.c.b. and the trail that they are going to default this is what happens in the market cap and there their prospects for a return to a healthy economy has to start with them realizing that they are completely and

utterly broke and start over from scratch. i once in a decade power transfer is underway in china where the communist party congress now reviewing the list of candidates the new leadership well have to tackle the growing challenges of the world's second largest economy and as artie's lissac often of reports beijing is promising to increase its global influence. lighting the flame on the international stage building to new heights on this world. and soaring beyond its limits whether it outer space the arctic outer continental shelf or on your local store shelves china is making its ambitions known let's see this is made in china. made in china china where cheap economic goods have translated into

massive profits for china as well as criticism now list comes amid growing concern that china is using its economic clout for political leverage. different. try not to use up very promising countries i'm sure you can get your top but you are trying trying less than five the i.m.f. says china could surpass the us economically in real terms by twenty sixteen it may not help the countless chinese who live in poverty but it sure makes rivals nervous china's economic clout has grown it is now the second largest economy in the world it's the second largest manufacturing exporter in the rimini the trainees currency is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy so there is a shift in relative economic might in the world that might has been threatened by the economic slowdown and it will be up to china's new leaders to try

to reverse the trend for now they seem to be getting their way china is inching into europe to snap up ailing businesses this french vineyard is just one of the casualties. but that these people they come here only by learned just like the castle in the jewellery on iran u.s. sanctions against oil trading with the islamic republic don't apply when you're america's largest banker. in africa china's using cash to buy clout beating western rivals in the race to exploit the continent's vast resources and its efforts. to buy influence through investments have been met with an intense public backlash and countries like pakistan building infrastructure instead of military bases has made china the preferred superpower among locals. born into feel ok. other countries does not like. it or that like america.

still it has abandoned its military the country's new leaders are expected to continue to pour billions into its defense budget the second largest in the world this may worry pentagon planners and beijing's asian neighbors but so far china's economic might has proven more powerful than the sword the other two nations which are fighting in their words what is america one is china so america is using which is water and there is a lot of losses and china is using up peacefully and civilized it is no loss and if the strategy is working well why change it time use meters understand the even portions of soft power. and yet understand that you cannot make people love him and she moans to some extent and may did a certain although to be studied if not to be followed completely for now a growing red dragon means that china's version of a new world order is here to stay you see captain of our t.v.

moscow meanwhile the country is also looking to rise above the stratosphere this summer to log on to argue dot com to learn more about china's manned space mission set for takeoff this june. trigger happy with president obama's reelection promise americans to stock up on guns and ammunition find out why online. now iraq's the fans minister denies the country has cancelled a four billion dollars arms deal with russia reports of so. analysts suggest a bad dad pulled the contract but the minister says the sale has been put under review and there are concerns of internal corruption government and business consultant christopher forstall says the complications are a sign of pressure from washington if this deal head to gone through that would have meant for the iraqi people a kind of you know starting a balanced situation of the evening with east and west so to say and that would be

healthy for the iraqi people because this is in line with the geographical very simple geographical situation now putting this deal under pressure you know that means that the us are insisting on a monopole in the region it is it is very clear you know it is nobbs mr maliki who is calling the shots in the iraqi policies that is the u.s. right now and that they are not able you know to allow a little petition just a little you that is a very sad story for washington and it doesn't bear good sides for the future. and now if you look at some other stories from around the world israeli tank fire has killed four palestinians and injured at least thirty six in the gaza strip mostly teenagers officials claim the attack comes as a response to militants blowing up an israeli border patrol vehicle with an

anti-tank missile hamas has promised to retaliate for the violence in pakistan a series of violent attacks across iraq have claimed the lives of seventeen people and injured dozens of others gunmen on motorcycles carried out several target killings with a magazine editor and five seminary students and said to be among the victims the motives for the attacks are not yet known sectarian political and ethnic violence in the city has resulted in nearly two thousand deaths this year. saudi arabia's top spiritual leader has issued an addict's which prohibits any contact with foreign media amid ongoing waves of pro-democracy protests announcing he urged worshipers during friday prayers in the capital riyadh to tell their story their worries directly to authorities the most he said and the international media was unreliable and wanted to destroy their nation's unity. the b.b.c.'s reputation at

stake and a huge hits with a reporting scandal forcing its had george and whistle to resign the broadcasters flagship programme newsnight has falsely accused a conservative lord of child sexual abuse that forced him to quit his post as he admitted ignorance of the broadcast and the media reaction to the false report he stand here as b.b.c. chief west of just under two months was the shortest in company's history. while the libyan town of bani walid is still struggling to heal the scars of the siege which took place less than a month ago libya's doubting itself as a new travel hotspot r.t. sarah ferguson visited the world travel market in london to find out why tour operators remain silent on the tragedy. we're here at the world travel market a trade taking place in london or if people can consulates their holiday inspiration or that scout exotic spot for a honey way 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 sideshow it's completely safe granted it's got to be safe more than even towns big towns like london new york but there's somewhere there's not mentioned in the guidebook bani walid a desert town this remain loyal to formally to colonel gadhafi it's just a few hours dry southeast of the traditional tourist destination tripoli but it's a world away from the safe environment the two guides of pitching. the town's 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. one story for more than a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and despite libya being shaikh ace it seems that bani walid has once again been conveniently left out of

the conversation when i saw this then it was a goes with surprise and i came to two hours of feedback of the situation at the moment in libya and if we have so many people there it means situations they could be coming most and we can think for next season to do something with libya and it's a wonderful country so we're. good about what's happening in the moment i knew i needed but do you mean was had been 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 benny walid at the moment. this is a blog. it's coming for the few of. you that there's a reason we don't speak about but it was deeply disturbing is that despite a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations ek media and government remain resolutely

silent they've got to sort of package this as a success it's very important for nato so we have the sort of speed of these countries are to be 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 pike the new will be given reasons to visit libya and undoubtedly there are many there's a concerning silence here this being echoed 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 that remain in the country but none of that you are going to read about it across the. surface r.t. london has such a gears up for the twenty fourteen winter olympic games volunteers across russia are starting their own preparations to help the city greet the world our special

report is next. richest lafon enough knows that to ride a horse you've got to catch it first. for him it's a daily routine that you saw officer force breeder on the island of horn at the heart of bike of his life on an isolated farm. is about blue sky green grass and his horses work there sometimes it gets lonely here a bit of horses have become part of me now i've fallen off so many times sometimes . it's part of my everyday life.

been home to it rats locally just laugh for centuries most still live off the land of cattle and fish. by coal is often called the pearl of siberia i know they said to be the pearl of. it's all end of think forests. and vast staps. virtually undiscovered by tourists until some twenty years ago i was horny as quickly becoming a magnet for nature lovers and the real seekers you're quite some way from civilization here accommodation on the island is very basic so you can forget about it the or even running water for most people a tent is the on the eruption but for those who come here it's exactly what they're looking for.