tonight's america's senate braces for a confirmation battle as a power picks so-called assassination john brennan and opposed rather supposed maverick pacifist chuck hagel for top security jobs we examine those appointments. the badlands a diner in downing street britain's coalition government tries to trumpet its midterm successful its future plans leave the public on a. career far wall for the visit of head of internet giant google which reports the secretive states inviting german economists to help it over for foreign investment. and their fifth night of rioting in belfast flags up the social and

political divide in northern ireland as police use non-lethal force on loyalists and get by restrictions in displaying the union flag. is just showing as forgiving cheers kevin i when you're at r.t. tonight just after nine pm now moscow time first then a pacifist accused of being anti israeli in charge of the miller trade an apparent supporter of harsh interrogation methods in charge of intelligence there president obama's picks to run the pentagon and the cia a washington correspondent profiles the nominees. by appointing chuck hagel as defense secretary president obama is arguably trying to change the perception that he has embraced bush administration national security policies because after four years of militaristic foreign policy that's most people see it chuck hagel former

senator from nebraska to a vietnam war veteran as being one of very very few u.s. politicians who opposed u.s. military expansion and who dared to question and dissent from washington orthodoxies on foreign policy one of them has to do with israel he's there to publicly point out that the u.s. and israel are separate countries and american interests should trump israeli interests when they conflict and that's a subversive thing to say here in washington could be a career killer yet it catered for direct negotiations with hamas he condemned the power of the pro israel lobby in washington here's one of his statements to that effect the political reality is that the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here i have always argued against some of the dumb things they do because i don't think it's in the interest of israel i just don't think it's smart for israel needless to say his nomination for the position of defense secretary has incurred a slew of objections for the past three weeks different interest groups have been running attack ads on t.v. saying things like he's soft on iraq and he's a bad choice for the job go on like the vast majority of us politicians who keep

repeating the all options are on the table mantra has allowed himself to say outright that attacking iran is a stupid idea is nomination is seen as a bold move on president obama's part and it's an important decision image wise for the president as possible changing foreign policy but many fear that charge could deliver that change in focus on more than substance because there's only so much one person can do in washington speaking of the other person along with chuck hagel president obama nominated his counterterrorism adviser john brennan as the next director of the cia john brennan has been in charge of some of obama's most controversial policies including the targeted assassinations program one where the even. gratian determines who will be marked for execution without any due process oversight or transparency is the man who's been in charge of president obama's kill list last year john brennan claimed that the u.s. drone program caused no civilian deaths in pakistan over the prior year which was

an outright lie by so many accounts add to that the fact that as a bush era cia official mr brennan had endorsed torture and rendition and also was a vocal advocate bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program and we can see why he is the most fit for the job as the head of the central intelligence agency which over the years has evolved into a paramilitary force the logic some see behind nominating hago and brennan for these top national security positions is that when accused of being hawkish the president can say does my defense secretary low kokesh to you if we choose the being soft he can point out his new cia director who can be accused of anything but being soft. retired u.s. army colonel douglas macgregor thinks that if the senate does approve it was the pentagon chief will see much less warmongering from washington. well there are a number of things first of all hago has been a very effective and strong critic of the interventions over the last several years

and the mismanagement of our policies and the squandering of blood and treasure on missions that make no sense strategically for the united states that's what subset large numbers of people who have supported bad decisions the decision to intervene and then occupy iraq and then to transform the initial operation in afghanistan into a nation building mission president obama has always been disinclined to attack iran and i think we're going to see some evidence over the months ahead for an alternative approach which will rely more heavily on the go sheesh and so i don't think the the desire of the israeli lobby and the government until you are in tel aviv for an attack on iran will will ultimately occur sliding down the slippery slope into the economic abyss the eurozone hits and you want to plummet it stands spaniards again the worst affected would talk about that little bit later in the program plus to the syrian crisis facing kurdish aspirations for statehood with

turkey paralyzed by fear as insurgents step of the game on home territory. thanks though marking the halfway point of its term in office the u.k.'s ruling coalition is touted in a list of its achievements of also served up one hundred eighty reform promises mostly minor but others threatening more austerity to the set of reports on the mid-term review. prime minister david cameron and the deputy leader of the kurdish nick clegg giving one of their rare joint public appearances together to deliver this mid-term review it was an awkward appearance it was really really difficult watching there were red faces several awkward pauses there were these really embarrassing it was certainly i think rare public to integrate into somebody would say of this date before and that's probably quite a good thing now this is summing up where halfway through the coalition now of

course a huge question was whether the coalition again to be breaking up whether they're going to stay together. the main message from the key leaders was that presenting a united front that they're in this for the full five years of course their plans that they laid out the next steps that are going to follow already being criticized by the opposition who says this is and he promises no real substance here you know there was a lot of summing up we're going to get the details of this sort of bulk mid term or the in the coming weeks to some of the things that they saw to be touched upon that they feel they've achieved and among the things like the welfare reform the education reform you know you cast your mind back to what that actually entailed we saw these huge protest movements a hike in the university fees there's a huge outrage and speech in london you know i think when you get the bulk of detail like this some he says he seems to be brushed away the as i said

a little bit awkward and it is very noticeable that people were laughing genuinely that was sort of met with a kind of any silence in some part saying you know this is no laughing matter it's a very serious point in the coalition there are big questions for the future of this and big question still remain every time they give an appearance like this we also about europe and people trying to clean a bit more information and you know it is quite short on substance i think a lot of people just be hating the plans that were laid out today in the. don't be better received than the prime minister's jakes we're at the take a little bit of a closer look at the detail of what the coalition has achieved or not the case of his my colleague for the boy. well it does look like the private pension could be going extinct that's according to one prominent pensions expert here in the u.k. he says that by twenty fifty they could be wrong because it turns out that just twelve percent of young people in their twenty's and thirty's are saving for their

retirement so we've got a lot of young people in the u.k. who aren't thinking about their pensions atoll and that's leading to concerns over potential pensions gap in the future the sad reality is that young people nowadays they have a lot of very immediate financial pressures on their plate you know with austerity measures in full swing with the financial crisis with young people on very low wages having to live with a very high cost of living at the same time they could have debts in the form of university fees that they have to pay off if they're lucky they'll have a mortgage but the the truth is is that a lot of young people have these very needy and precious and so they just don't have time to think about putting money away for thirty forty years down the line that's money that they might not see again and there's a double sort of irony in this because by the timing that they retire the pension age is going to be at least sixty eight and there are reports saying that some people have said that well if the pension age is going to be sixty eight we might

not live that long so why save for it so it is quite a grim picture at the moment. police. north korea known for its reclusiveness and tight internet controls is playing host to a high profile visit from the u.s. one of the guests being at the head of online giant google in fact the trip while promoted is a private and humanitarian one is pretty speculation no but the company's plans to expand into the secretive state washington frowns upon his visit calling for sanctions on pyongyang after the recent rocket launch meanwhile have also been reports that north korean authorities are hiring german economists to help open up the country for foreign investment. from the washington d.c. institute for policy studies yet line to be what north korea has to offer to investors it's got trained workforce highly educated and no trade unions and that's no trade unions are going to cause any strikes and that's a big plus for outside investors another thing is raw materials north korea has a normal amount of mineral wealth and at the moment china has pretty much locked up

access to that but north korea i think is interested in getting a couple more bids maybe some more money there and then of course location north korea is in the middle of one of the top economic zones in the world so if you're going to open up a business in northeast asia why not think of north korea. changing direction is search of a better life. from venezuela the field which is becoming an appealing place partly for those who fail to find economic and social in more traditional eva. he.

fell faster seen a fifth straight night of violence as police fired plastic bullets and water cannon hundreds of loyalist protesters the angry mobs held for some bricks of the authorities injuring three but sixty offices been wounded in the violence over the last five weeks since the old decision well they fly the union flag on special days they've been a force of loyalist paramilitary groups orchestrating riots social justice like that we played a shallow told us at r.t. that they might want to use the confusion as a base for more violent action. there are several issues i think first of all in that area there are some laws as part of the leaders who are against the peace process this and other issues such as putting except in a coverless for people who disagree with the peace process for them you know stir british community to come together and to deal with you to these types of activities who are working if you were one of the there have been problems in this area these power fast will last two years there are people with them up organization who are getting this violence there is another problem of course in

northern ireland on the other side of the voices of war will be called this will republicans those who wish to create a united ireland and they have been involved in a series of bomb attacks and shootings for the last three years and have also especially during periods like this will try to use this ominous fear of disharmony to try to opt out the in terms of their own violence. the kurdish militant raid on a turkish border post as a thirteen people dead the soldiers eventually managed to force back their attackers the insurgency in the southeast those rolled on for three decades they were tentative deal on design wins allegedly been reached today as a regular school reports turkey meddling in syria money involved militants at home . that's the turkey's prime minister may have shot himself. by openly supporting the syrian opposition the country's leader may have overlooked the fact serious political mayhem may have on turkey especially in the border areas largely populated by kurds some observers believe any turmoil in the region between on

karate damascus will have a devastating effect on to guns country. turkey now involved virtually in a war it's used as a base by the syrian rebels and is now good to the kurds or more just really. but the dangers here are you know. thirty guns reasoning behind his support for the rebels can stem from lessons of the recent past. what do you. make. of the syrian opposition because they've made the same mistake in iraq with the kurdish region which is. now. the. right game for the. syria but that could come as a dear cost. conflict between turks and kurds has been simmering for some thirty

years with thousands of victims of both sides in fact the last eighteen months have seen seven hundred deaths from the confrontation between turkish security forces and the kurdistan workers party or p k k recognized by some western nations as a terrorist organization some believe the thirty million kurds are ready to rise at a moment's notice to at least gain some autonomy if not reach their ultimate goal the kurdish state the syrian crisis may very well provide such an opportunity and uncross increasing animosity towards both kurds and damascus it may very well be turkey that will end up being the biggest loser in this call that. game critics were presented is in the turkish general assembly firmly believe no matter the outcome of the conflict the kurds in syria are set for some sort of autonomy and they're eager to follow suit the syrian kurds so will have their own status political status autonomy for long years and also struggling for and democratic

autonomy we want our identity to be recognized and we want. democratic autonomy regional autonomy then we should have our south governance right but these desires seem to fall on deaf ears within the turkish government without corrals kurdish conflicts coming under increasing scrutiny from human rights organizations accusations of rape torture kidnappings and use of chemical weapons against the cause of three separatists have been backed up by independent reports and investigations and are in major stumbling block on and cross crusade for e.u. membership the turkish government nevertheless seems determined to avoid the issue altogether instead of turning its attention across the border into syria in a guy who's cool r.t. on camera. getting armed to the chase is a controversial day being set aside of

a calendar in the united states a right wing group of americans over my special day to call the owners of weapons to buy them and fire them will tell you while in line the mystery of the missing million dollar but tastes sledgehammer wilting face snatched it twenty five years ago but. turned up again more on line from. the euro zone's jobless rate sits a new record high was spain again was suffering the most followed by grace nearly twelve percent are out of work across the bloc now over a quarter of people in fact in spain can't find a job that worrying number comes amid fresh demonstration. to madrid thousands of doctors have been marching against government plans to partly privatized health care a move they fear would ultimately lead to further job cuts spanish political analyst . says it's an alarming sign that traditionally pro-government medical workers have turned out in protest. but it's interesting about these protests in the health care

sector is that it's different from a sociological point of view from all the protests we're seen around spain we've seen of course teachers and and. public sector workers of all sorts transport all the services are basically on strike or staging protests now what is different about the is that you have doctors which are traditionally in spain like elsewhere are traditionally more conservative they most of them they backed the government prior to its election so this is their own people that he said happy with the way the government is going so i think it will it will make a difference it will it will cost some extra problems for that for the current government well as unemployment brings despairs what was once a land of prosperity the many of those who are hunting for a better life and are making some unexpected choices reports from venezuela where the country is becoming

a more attractive place to to move. with no end in sight to the financial crisis many are finding refuge in countries with an alternative economic model or some venezuela represents hope and new opportunities to bolivarian republic may be a surprising choice after all it's been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the hemisphere whose murder rate exceeds that of iraq still the world bank says venezuela draws the largest number of immigrants after argentina with one million flocking here in two thousand and ten alone the muscles. get weaker rosa is one of them after decades of struggling in the u.s. she decided to start anew in venezuela. and that come to you completely alone when you go that trying to find a new way to really live nobody helps you there nobody in caracas the helping hand came from the government a cheap loan to kickstart a small business and subsidies that enabled her to purchase this home that's why

rosa and others like her see the country as a place where. you can move more freely you have more opportunities. robust economic growth and increased spending on social projects to help create those opportunities having the state on your side in terms of the benefits is a huge thing because you don't have to worry about your basic necessities everyone has the right to universal free health care quality health care education at all levels the government provide subsidies to start up small businesses medium sized businesses that do the same in terms of housing to help people if they're coming from a country where the economic crisis is so bad they've been cutting all those benefits but as i began to look like a paradise that may certainly seem to be the case for those on the bottom president hugo chavez helped bring the poverty rate down from fifty percent when he took office to roughly thirty one percent and the u.n. says venezuela has the lowest level of inequality in latin america.

it's one child as diehard supporters among the poor but what about the rich critics say chavez is alienating the wealthy many of whom turned out in droves to vote for his opponent in october closely contended election twenty first century socialism hasn't helped us it is her job as opponents blame his so-called socialist experiment for problems like limited foreign investment they say that it's driving businessmen and entrepreneurs out of the country. by daniel year g.'s himself a young businessman disagrees after spending twelve years in barcelona he decided to return to venezuela not just for the economic benefits he says but for the chance to partake in a different sort of future order there are two very different political forces in this country one wants to move towards capitalism the other is on the path of socialism in the october election the people of venezuela voted to make the country greener fairer to create more opportunities and in this regard many venezuelans like myself have decided to return home and so they do showing that for some

gambling in venezuela system may be worth the risk you see catherine of r.t. venezuela. elsewhere around the world tonight in china hundreds of people have rallied in a rare show of support for a liberal newspaper that chanted slogans for political democratic reform outside the new so-called as the southern weekly the paper had been forced to change into tauriel calling for reform of the ruling communist party pro discovers after dozens of academics in china signed an open letter calling for the resignation of provincial propaganda minister who they blame for the censorship. and advance party of nato troops serve turkey where they'll deploy patrick missiles on the syrian border a larger group of the european soldiers will then arrive later this month when they'll join their dutch and german counterparts the military alliance says it's deploying the missiles to protect civilians in turkey but serious sees it as an act of provocation. the search is on for the missing people now in tasmania as those

wildfires continue to rage across southeastern australia and warnings to now raise to the highest level which is catastrophic in parts of the mainland state of new south wales where there are more than one hundred thirty five years of being spurred on by strong winds and record temperatures most of the country's been baking above forty celsius for several days. well thanks for you with us tonight to it r t moscow looking over the dumbasses cooking the books than it's laura lister and company account after this short break. crime is a plague of the big cities but in a tiny arkansas town of twenty five thousand it is really getting out of hand pure gold is a property crime index of more than double the national average and rape burglary

and assault are also way above average poor poor gold is a dangerous place to live in but what's the answer to living in constant fear of criminals well the mayor thinks that the answer to that problem is to live in constant fear of the government how logical the mayor and police chief have a doorstop plan to send out police patrols with a ar fifteen that will swat armor to i guess intimidate the local population into submission well actually the plan is for them to stand around it ask people an important question ask them to show i.d. the answer to crime isn't a police state sending guys out with automatic weapons and body armor around just to check people's i.d. like it's the berlin wall or something won't do anything a guy who breaks into your house for crystal meth money isn't going to be affected by this only the good average citizens will have to show an armed thug of their id just to go buy milk but i shook my opinion.

i live. good afternoon welcome to capital account i'm laurin the store here in washington d.c. these are your headlines for friday december twenty first two thousand and twelve today is a good time to reflect on this. which critics. on the twenty first of this year. that would be today and the world didn't end i think it's fair to say so we will reflect on what may lie ahead in the coming new year reflect on this here in economic trends dave column is a cornell chemistry professor but he's known in finance for his annual year in

review which is out today and he is here in studio to talk about it plus you wes stocks drop as house republicans cancel a vote on the fiscal cliff political disarray stock markets those were how the headlines read today when i came into work but is this just white noise we'll talk about signs of a broken market that go far beyond the day to day news reportedly moving them plus from market scandals to our very own we'll break down what you loved and hated this week and viewer feedback let's get to today's capital account. well the world didn't end today as some argue the mayan calendar predicted but this

millennial error can at least teach us a thing or two about the pitfalls of prediction something fitting given the nature of financial forecasts and also fitting as our guest references it in a small way in his two thousand and twelve year in review he writes this review every december and this year it covers the gamut from broken markets to broke students saddled with more debt than those charging up their credit cards it's out today you can read it chris martenson is web site which is pretty peak prosperity dot com and you can hear him talk about it now on our show because david column is here he's the betty are miller professor of chemistry at cornell university and author of the year in review out for two thousand and twelve today so first thanks for being on the show it's my pleasure second let's talk about why you as an organic chemistry professor are known for writing a financial economic investment year in review that's out today why does anybody.