today's top stories and the rest of the week four more years brought obama's new term kicks off with a top for a foreign policy slapping new sanctions on iran and authorizing drone strikes in yemen. syrian president bashar asad pledges to stay in as war torn homeland no matter what as he talks exclusively to our team. fresh violence players in gaza and israeli tanks kill at least four palestinian civilians with israel claiming it's targeting militants got a live update from our correspondent in the region. and china's current leadership prepares to step down to way younger leaders develop the country's powerhouse economy and a once in a decade power transfer. this

is a right to live from moscow with josh now after the most expensive election campaign in u.s. history barack obama was reelected this week as a u.s. president beating his republican rival mitt romney and the man he picked obama over romney because of his softer talk on foreign policy he doesn't quite walk the walk as he's going to be on that 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 his foreign policy rhetoric also a seemingly out of touch with middle class america we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation. fiscal cliff winning 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've got the pen ready 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 the 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 a rainy and official so the u.s. planes were jamming satellite broadcasts and blocking internet access and you read 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 threaten to topple the government by inciting you know food riots or you know people who are unhappy because they can't 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 if we're just going to have to go ahead with any of 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. reports emerged on friday that the obama administration is considering a new approach to talks with iran down with these sanctions but said iran must make greater concessions than ever discussed former cia officer ray mcgovern believes obama should be honest with the american people about what's really behind the pressure of the islamic republic. what i would suggest is that he call a press conference what he would say is you know the campaign is over and i found out that i've been grievously misled they told me to say that iran had threatened to wipe israel off the map and i found out that they never said that it's a matter of fact these really deputy prime minister sort of said ok ok he never said that and so my speechwriters are being canned and i'm going to get some new speechwriters the intelligence community keeps telling me that he run has not yet

decided to build a nuclear weapon and so i'm going to get rid of all those folks from brookings other places who are the soft on the speech saying well you know you still have to worry about this instead of negotiations once these troublesome people have their own agenda are dismissed but he has a square chance of saying look we're going to do a deal with the run just as i said five years ago we're going to talk directly to them and we're not going to let that be sabotaged by either israeli intelligence or is really for sure not ose within the neo conservative camp in washington. while some may criticize the results of the election questions that arise over the territory of the voting process americans like ballot boxes are used to be easy to tamper with are to investigate the kind of things being done to fix the problem a little way around. here as 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 the or bogeyman and warned against foreign intervention in syria are to sophie shevardnadze met with the embattled leader in damascus. 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 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 to fuck that civil war is taking place in his country he's saying that it's not civil war it's a conflict where he has to five 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 to do from atlantic to pacific vision and it's going. to be more the whole world came before because if you have a problem if you're going to go the flow through. ability in the region and coexistence. it will have to mean off. to the

pacific. you know because you know. it's going. to go but you do so. but you can pick what's next. in our to exclusive friday super sunday on r t and r t v dot com after the interview was aired the free syrian army the main armed opposition group in the country threatened president said he would follow the fate of libya's leader moammar gadhafi fired on musri they have the media department says asad is doomed. in his statement to your channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria he and his people not money to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria long enough you'll be lucky if you reach the same fate as.

meanwhile the syrian opposition remains locked in talks in qatar trying to consolidate its alliance against president asif this has deadly bombing ripped through the country where the latest attack killing at least twenty soldiers the syrian national council the main opposition group has come under western pressure to accept a unity plan i mean growing frustration from other different factions see it like the new leader on friday appealing for more weapons to help out the president of the arab world. says western attempts to gain political influence in syria are far failing. 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 change of three g.

but this is a unique case whereby 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 free army there is the people who are revolting in syria and they have no links with the external. people who are claiming to represent them so i don't think they credibility before i don't think they would have credibility at the present moment because this is an attempt to create a group of you ordovician everybody in the west created this something. they call develop resent that. and staying in the region israeli tank fire has killed at least four palestinian teenagers and injured some thirty others in gaza officials

claim the attack was a response to militants blowing up israeli border patrol vehicle here's artie's policy or there has been a sixteen exchange of fire between palestinians and israeli soldiers along the israel gaza border and the latest figures we have are that at least four palestinian civilians have been killed in addition to this body was discovered this morning sunday a gaza man who was killed in an overnight israeli airstrike and it's not immediately clear whether or not he was a civilian or a militant now there are regular flare ups between israeli army and sting in militants but unfortunately israel often seems to kill civilians although its intended target it says is the militants but it has been a raja of rockets fired into southern israel this morning there are injuries but as we understand it nothing serious at this stage militants are warning that they going to take revenge for these deaths and at the same time israel is warning its residents in that southern communities to live in the other gaza border to stay

within fifteen seconds of the blast shelters so we are anticipating that they will be more violence today sunday this is one of the highest casualty counts in gaza in a single incident in recent months and it comes at a time of a new detention along the israel gaza border only some two weeks ago egyptian mediation managed to bring down income and of cheer up. anger in athens police used tear gas and water cannons on protesters have the greek parliament passes the sting a stare any package to secure its latest bailout. hope that it comes time of going through a once in a decade change of power would bring in more analysis of how the countries in track to become the world's biggest economy these stories and much more after the stroke 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 ms 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 that 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 yet 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 i thought we believed in private property not eternally renting from big banks but that's just my opinion. well into the future science technology innovation all the least of melons from around russia we've got the future covered. in the news sigrid laboratory to mccurry was able to build a new world most sophisticated robots which all unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything turns mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world events this is why you should care watch only on the dot com . download the official ati

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it watching our team in the arena joshie life from moscow this week anger and violence once again spilled over into the streets of athens police used tear gas and water cannons against greeks protesting further budget cuts demonstrators hurled petrol bombs with more than one hundred the tane as the country's parliament passed and a sturdy package aimed at securing its latest bailout the new measures which include a tax hike and pension cuts set to be the worst so far in three years the greek debt crisis journalist charlie mcgraw says the cuts will further suffering on the weeks and that the situation won't change for the better until avon's apologist it's bankrupt. we already have people killing themselves in front of greece you have people that are losing everything using old that the last thing to go i think

is going to be you know their sense that they have anybody representing them with the war whatsoever you have this tyranny of the technocrat majority inside three hundred fifty three out of three hundred vote more austerity and 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 it they are going to default this is what happens if the market caps there their prospects for a return to a healthy economy has to start with their realizing that they are completely and utterly broke and start over from scratch.

as london and the e.u. continue a bigger ring over the budget many in britain believe the u.k. will be better off on its own bring you more analysis on of why and london is setting worlds apart from plans lawyer or. a risky place to spend a holiday or hollywood weeks after the deadly siege of bani walid tour operators invite people to travel to leave the details just ahead. now once in a decade power transfer is under way in china where the communist party congress now reviewing the list of candidates the new leadership will have to tackle the growing challenges of the world's second largest economy as idealistic 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 in 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 well cheap economic goods have translated into massive profits for china as well as criticism you know this comes amid growing concern that china is using its economic clout for political leverage. different. trying not very promising country. in your property rights or trying to try let them find 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 in the boy alone just like to buy it but castle jewelry 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 is using cash to buy clout beating western rivals in the race to exploit the continent's vast resources you know 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 thier ok. other countries that 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 the word what is america what is china so america is using which is water and there is a lot of losses and china is using up peacefully and civilized with the other there is no loss and if the strategy is working well why change it time you speeders understand the importance of soft power. and yet understand that you konami. chieftains to some extent has made it

a certain. although to be studied if not to be followed. 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 moscow. meanwhile the country is also looking to rise above the stratosphere this summer. long gone to argue dot com to learn more about china's manned space mission for takeoff this june. and trigger happy president obama's reelection prompts americans to stock up on guns and ammunition find out why online. several high ranking russian officials lost their jobs this week in the wake of corruption allegations shaking the country's military but a fancy minister his first deputy and joint chief of staff were replaced after the ministry was drawn into the scandal over the alleged selling off assets well below market value meanwhile russia's space industry is also in the throes of

a corruption scandal as it was revealed that around two hundred million dollars were allegedly embezzled by the management of a company developing russian satellite navigation system dubbed long us president putin as well as he has. had a named countering corruption in russia as one of their main goals. that was take a look at some other stories from around the world in pakistan a series of violent attacks across garage you have claimed the lives of seventeen people and injured dozens of others gunmen on motorcycles carried out several target killings magazine editor and five seminary students 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 i mean i'm going waves of pro-democracy protests

denouncing the regime. urged worshipers during friday prayers in the capital riyadh to tell their worries directly you feel the warnings the mufti said the international media was unreliable and wanted to destroy nations. the b.b.c.'s reputation has taken a huge hit with the reporting scandal forcing its had george was told to resign the broadcasters flagship program news night falsely accused a conservative lord of child sexual abuse that forced and was told 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 lasted just under two months the shortest in corporations history. now the u.k. appears to be standing firm after e.u. budget talks collapsed earlier this week britain is opposed to any hikes and spending out of trying to push for cuts prime minister david cameron and the german chancellor angela merkel held warm and friendly talks in london but left the issue

resolved dr lee roth around from the taxpayers' alliance says the u.k. special position within the e.u. gives us more clout when it comes to any squabbles over spending i think across the european union in particular in brussels so there's a long standing appreciation that the u.k. has a particular view on european integration which is not shared by the country we are also a country which pays for more going to the budget that we get out which puts is in a strong position but also. in the process there are also a serious questions as to the deal which we're currently getting within the terms so she's on the common fisheries policy and in terms of the red tape in my collection and so forth so the whole susa reasons why the u.k. politicians in particular the conservative party parties are not happy with the oh we couldn't go out. 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 touting itself as a new travel hotspot artists are first 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 show a taking place in london where people can consulates their holiday inspiration or that scout exotic spot for a honey 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 saved more than even towns to big towns like london or my new york but there's somewhere that's not mentioned in the guide berke 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. run story for more than a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and the spy libya being showcased it seems that bani walid has once again been conveniently left out the conversation when i saw this. it was a goes with surprise and i came. back of the situation at the moment in libya and if we have so many people it means our situation is that it becoming more stable and we can think for next season to do something with libya and it's a wonderful country so we would about what's happening at the moment i knew were legal 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 speak and some people

eat telling them about what's been happening in bernie walid at the moment. this is a blog. it's coming for the future. there's a reason we don't speak about what was deeply disturbing is that despite a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations media and government remain resolutely silent. as a success is very important for nato so we have the should. 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 has this been 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 that remain in the country but none of that you're going to read about in across the. surface to london bahrain's authorities and then the troops as they attempt to crackdown on protesters second day. shortly the country's leaders deal with those who step out of line. multibillion dollar arms deal between russia and iraq is delayed due to corruption concerns and back to baghdad but one expert tells our to third party might be pulling the strings the details after a short break.