to go before they buckle defeat makes picture indeed peter what about any further evidence of europe's north south divide what are the chances that euro elections will happen that will see any further wedge next year in twenty fourteen. well these elections that are coming up in may the european parliament elections are set to be well the most important elections of their kind ever seen in the history of the european union we've seen a whole host of political parties spring up here in germany we've seen alternative for germany also in austria in the u.k. as well they have these these new parties coming out who are on t. establishment their immigration a lot of them are unto you row their brussels and their austerity and they could be they could cause a huge upset in the parliamentary elections because there's a magic number of thirty percent now if all of those those political parties can get thirty percent of the share in the european parliament then well they can start

really causing problems for the the established political elites in europe and they can try and really implement some of their changes there so that's something we'll be looking ahead to in twenty fourteen of course i'll bring you all of it here on r.t. from germany looking forward to it happy new year to you amber then peter oliver happy new year because you don't really want to see all about twenty thirteen has been a game changer for the first digital currency bit coin and increasingly people are expecting it to go mainstream yet government regulators. regulations using those peer to peer principals and middlemen involved crucially it was once considered the currency only for the tech savvy i'm going to slowly but its price went through the roof of course just last month after that of the us federal reserve of the currency many hold long term promise with us now to discuss the future because patrick from the general counsel of the bitcoin foundation why there appear to things to be

without international there's the euro or the dollar but if you do worry about here the really end of the day. thanks for having me and happy new year to you as well i don't know that the year or the dollar is anything to worry about per se i don't think that because it is going to replace either currency in the shorter mid term event but i do think that what you're going to see with big coin is a internet reference currency a currency build for the internet that enables consumers to reap tremendous advantages and hopefully will make here on the u.s. dollar even more liquid and more accessible to people true for gusa let me just if you can just hang on the recycling to try to explain to our viewers what we're about how it works so what is it calling how does it work if you're still the uninitiated well basically it's a currency that only exists as a digital code no means needed for it created by so called digital mining which is basically an out cracking cracking math equations is then stored in those online

wallets we often talk about like online banking i guess now what i hold is can exchange those because directly with each other no bank will food policy crucially needed plus will because exchanges remain anonymous as during transactions you names them placed into a digital signature was just a random sequence of symbols but clear and this is a little bit more i kind of understand what i don't understand i want to bring patrick back in for this is what do i do ok i've decided i like the idea i want to buy some bit coin so i have to download it now what's my next step. sure so if you want to become interested in coin and acquiring some big point spending it however you want to do there are many ways to get big coin there's no there's no person behind big coin or company behind because as you mentioned that's the whole point so if you want to pick going you can hold them yourself you can download the reference client for big coin you can find that it big queen dot org. or you can

use a service company that will provide either a wallet for you or an exchange where you can fund your wallet as well how you acquire your first big coins you can mine them if you want to by using your computing power to help process transactions on the network but you can earn them by providing services or goods to people on the internet or you can of course just buy them it sounds great but we sold the ups and downs throughout the year the volatility of it end of the day do you think at the time said it's really going to fizzle out people who go it's not reliable enough come people that are safe enough . sure so there's been some volatility but that's not unexpected when you think about a new system that's just come around we're just about to hit five years old right for a technology that's very very new and people are just starting to learn about it and get excited about it it's a supply and demand driven market so as more people want coin the price tends to go up because you have to get them from somebody who are already has the big coin so

it's the only trade right now it's definitely a high risk environment for your average consumers people should not be putting their life savings into bitcoin right now but i think over time what you'll see is that the price will level out it will come to a level that sustained sustainable through and through again the supply and demand market mechanics as the market for big going matures you won't see the dramatic swings that could be even a couple more years from now before we get to that level. but it will likely happen in the interim it's ok so we've got to leave it there. hopefully your plans tonight for a big twenty four team is prosperous for you. thank you for coming on the program nice to see you. thanks for having me. the arab spring is about to enter its fourth year can you believe it it's gone by so fast peace in the middle east seemingly very far off twenty thirteen left a bloody mark on several countries in the region and egypt deadly protests and

clashes between supporters and opponents of the government led to the military coup in july when president morsi was ousted and put in prison and a chemical weapons crisis in syria claimed over a thousand lives nearly triggered the u.s. intervention it was only narrowly avoided by diplomatic solution brokered into the day by russia there was also a diplomatic victory for russia to as it reached in this story nuclear deal well throughout the year r.t. has witnessed first hand what protesters innocent civilians and security forces have had to endure here's a reminder of what we saw. guys i can. tell now we're going with the army going to be operation. the run militancy in that model of the cut now and. sufi hotel this is the mountaintop or tell which one to buy. the rubble that.

fires. from. inattentive i said her statement of president morsi story to steve is quite a trigger for me and here is a conscious continuing tirade. the u.s. war on terror has no borders often waged remotely with cruise missiles and drones it's an undeclared global battlefield in which yemen is just one of the front lines of fight against groups like al qaida in which ordinary civilians also end up paying a price. this is an israeli bunco on the israeli syrian border with the american decision me something to arm the rebels one of the groups that will be most directly affected are israelis living here in the

golan heights place. where i'm stuck here in this corner and we're now trying to get out of here. the main road is being targeted and it's us our only way out we think over our chances when our engineer gets heat. well the wave of violence has also swept into other middle east countries too despite u.s. troops being shuttled to leave iraq at the end of next year the number of those killed in the country hit a five year record this year the moon and america's war on terror has also been leaving its deadly mark on yemen and pakistan with more civilians there allegedly killed by drone strikes human rights abuses continue in the gulf states like

bahrain and kuwait with their governments accused of heavily suppressing those who try to speak out well to the middle east bureau chief paula we speak to her most nights she's with us again tonight. very nice to see all the best to you. despite. this wave of violence we've seen this year have been small steps forward as well. well they said it has and mean two thousand and thirteen certainly was a tough year and many of those same challenges are expected to follow into the new year one bright spot though could be interim nuclear deal that was signed between tehran and world powers. three years since the arab spring and most of the region is still reeling in egypt people will head back to the polls after a year two more political uncertainty and violent upheaval. libya's

a nation divided with chaos all around two years off to gadhafi. while it's the same old same old in the israeli palestinian peace talks. iranians though might see some a spike in two thousand and fourteen after world powers clinched a breakthrough nuclear deal but amid if it's to make the six month agreement more permanent one country is determined to upset the apple cart israel's going to be demanding things that we're going to hear extreme the merrills a lot of dealing and screaming i think the run isn't doing what it's supposed to do you know what it internationally as an historic deal israel's prime minister lamented it was an historic mistake to iran agreed to constrain its nuclear drive in return for temporary reprieve from sanctions the six negotiating powers agreed to recognize iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy that's not including its right to enrichment under the conditions of this program is placed under strict control by the british in syria meanwhile is on track to meet the chemical weapons

destruction deadline by mid two thousand and fourteen it's a conflict that's into a new phase as the waste signals to the syrian opposition that president assad may state after all. well these stories and the trains they reflect also seem to remain in the headlines paula syria's got two major milestones ahead in two thousand and fourteen the geneva two conference scheduled for january also finally the dismantling of their country's chemical arsenal by the summer what can we expect. well the syrian brutal civil war is going to continue to be a major story in two thousand and fourteen of course it is the major security concern of this region it's a war that's left some one hundred twenty thousand people dead it's continued for nearly three years some six million people have been made refugees two million of them outside of the country we do expect that the war will continue to be felt

outside of the country you need to look at countries for example like iraq and lebanon these people states where the sectarian violence continues to be played out the damascus government so he does believe it can win this war and if not when it then at least retain control of the areas where it currently has its grip what we do expect for two thousand and fourteen is that the opposition will continue to be dominated by islamist extremists and the knock on effect of this is that it's going to be increasingly difficult for the damascus regime to enter into any kind of negotiations or discussion with them and at the same time you have external outside powers that are also going to withdraw the support for the opposition this means that the geneva two summit that is currently slated for january does not have a particularly good prognosis right archies polls they are live with us head of our bureau thank you so much of course happy new year to you. paula. now in september

the world held its breath as the u.s. threat destroyed syria in response to a chemical attack would show washington blame squarely on the assad government but russia's diplomatic efforts managed to prevent the use of force and a resolution on the syrian toxic arsenal was eventually there's talk of brian burke who's director of the antiwar i'm so coalition joining us live more in the current state of the water in country roiled morning once after the afternoon to where you are you haven't been assured in the new year you yet we've got to go to seventy minutes to go it's coming what are you that is what i would have told you but this . geneva two peace conference on journey the twenty second it's still a big question mark about who's actually going to sit down at the table the opposition groups are still bitterly divided on. they are since the beginning the assad government has made it clear that it's willing to enter into talks to try to seek a negotiated a political settlement to the three year long dispute since the beginning the opposition both the opposition backed by western powers explicitly the free syrian

army and those backed by saudi arabia and got are and turkey the more islamic wing or the so-called islamic wing of the movement from the beginning they have not wanted to have a negotiated settlement they wanted to carry out civil war they felt that they had the power of western and and other regional forces behind them but it's become quite clear and i think the september settlement between the obama administration and the russian government and the assad government to seek a negotiated settlement is an indicator that the rebels cannot win the war in spite of all of the arms and money that have come from the outside the syrian army is prevailing the syrian people in the main don't want them they rebel when they're living under their control so i think the prognosis is is quite bad for the geneva settlement i think the assad government feels confident in is willing and isn't prepared in carrying out military offensives against the rebel force that it sees as it's quite split so as we head into a new year hopefully you think fresh hope

a fresh start you don't think much is going to change what is going to happen for the do you think. well this is the great humanitarian crisis again i think that we have to understand if it's one hundred thousand or one hundred twenty thousand syrians who have died if it's six million and it is refugees two million who have left the country this has been. a script played out by western powers and their regional allies particularly saudi arabia and qatar to fuel a civil war for a political and in other words to turn people against people and to use food and medicine and ultimately warfare as a weapon to oust a government that had been targeted not because the united states or saudi arabia certainly thinks that it could be a more democratic government in damascus but because they want proxy forces the rule of this important part of the of the world this geo strategically important and resorts rich part of the world right now the syrian government is staying

strong it has allies internationally the syrian opposition is divided unfortunately it appears that the civil war will go on and on the syrian people wanted to and they want to negotiated settlement the people of the region i think want the same open for a bit of good news into a broad thank you for your input over the last twelve months and hope to see you again next year as well as with very good to have you brought back and then from the we're going to thank you. well we can all squabble over money from time to time especially at this time of year but one country can take it to a whole new level when those in charge in the u.s. can't make up their minds they just close the country down shut it down yes the government couldn't agree on a budget or raising the debt ceiling take a look at this and so it's shut down for sixteen days nearly a million people were sent home for and prompt two unpaid holiday and because the world still relies of course on the dollar as the reserve currency we were all

essentially sucked into washington's political test i understand we can now join. you know we're hoping to cut short with a gun and no gun if you can see has been reporting of course on all of the going out of what's happening in washington throughout the year there so yes he joins us live oh my god i was so snapshot so we get on the screen again a big new year we couldn't go we couldn't leave one year and go into another without seeing a gun each account on the screen and this guy and i'm here that stuff with the state of america as we end the year that may go with sedatives newsmakers what's been the talk of the time take us through it. hello kevin and on a sad and happy new year it was there it was a year of cliffhangers we heard the white house direct military action we saw the u.s. congress threaten default to blackmail the president it's been

a roller coaster but very few enjoyed it and here's a quick look back at some of the twists and turns. team obama prepared to hit syria the u.n. bulked while others worry that u.s. strikes could benefit extremists never. hurt the american people wouldn't buy it either so president obama finally took up the russian proposal to cut a deal and we will work together in consultation with russia and china to put forward a resolution at the u.n. security council requiring assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control the zest for war in syria left many americans wondering why their representatives weren't as well boston helping them so paul and to me that in this circumstance in these times we spent two or three or more weeks deciding whether we should conduct what is laughingly referred to as a humanitarian war in congress the republicans used the debt limit to blackmail

president obama and starve funds for a medical insurance scheme for millions of americans which is struggling to get off the ground anyway the government. for over two weeks and us that default fears put the world back on economic alert with suspiciously dramatic timing congress eventually healed it but its reputation was sealed it will leave millions dangling on the brink of a catastrophe so a few can score political points. hello girl they are all near. yes i am you are carrying i thought i want to ask you about some of the tremendous fallout that we thought after the revelations that edward snowden of course we began the hour speaking about the impact. big deal in twenty thirteen tell us a little bit about the u.s. reaction. oh well washington's reaction was very very

interesting you had many politicians calling for reforms in the wake of for snowden's revelations and at the same time calling him a traitor the obama administration of course had to do some damage control after all the revelations show that the government had lied to the people about this program but it seems that it's going to be damage control more in words than an actual change of policy we hear words transparency and oversight more often but the reality is this president obama himself said he's quite happy with the way with how the program works. but america's national security also of course suffer tragically didn't it they say. well yes the boston bombings in april which killed three people and injured more than. two hundred sixty four in fact and it actually said something about how this

surveillance program works the two perpetrators somehow flew under the radar although the f.b.i. and the cia had received warnings from russia about one of them a year before it happened but the u.s. law enforcement didn't act on those wordings possibly looking at the guy you know was from chechen descent and thinking it's russia trying to solve its problems and that it has nothing to do with the you it turns out it's not just bush as problem but it seems that washington is starting to see it more clearly. you got a lot lined up for us next year from. twenty minutes or so. a couple of i was twelve of course. on the program so much but a lot of television. well certainly a lot to remember in two thousand and thirteen in the u.s. not all pleasant memories the government shutdown. well no doubt stick in people's minds teetering on the brink of default severely undermined confidence in the

world's leading reserve currencies during the year china even calls for building a de americanised world the one started to breathe down the dollar's neck with its sights on becoming the new global currency small thoughts on this where the money race may have been twenty forty eight it wouldn't be the new year's program without joe selenski publisher of trends journal on the line harlow job looking from toronto stickers always. does the you wonder what all over to him to worry about here well you know really they don't and the reason being is that there's so many problems in other places you look what's going on in china very interesting a trend note on christmas eve when nobody's watching concerns melt over china care squeeze financial times yesterday forty percent interest rates loan that developer took from credit china. today's financial times remember this is when nobody's paying attention it's new year's eve fears after china key debt

level soars over seventy percent new york times china's says local level debt soars starring fears wall street journal china faces mounting local debt it's the same story around the world it's not only the united states has pumped in all these trillions of dollars to keep their economies going so too is china so in essence what we have are all the world currencies are in trouble so where do you go that's the issue eventually brought down the u.s. shut down why did it actually happen in the end of a minute i'm saying it's a kind of a condom on and you could see it coming they said it but they said it wouldn't really go bankrupt but it was pretty close wasn't for a while yes it was you know it's political theater and they say that politics is show business rather always roll up it doesn't it really when you look at it from afar yeah again it's show business for ugly people and when you see the antics of

the people playing out their words their actions it was the an epson incompetence look at the polls in the united states the people are ranking the presidency and congress it's the lowest they ever have been in in recorded history so what did they do they close down the parks yeah let's punish the people the parks stink anyway but let's close them down it really accounts for nothing so at the end of the day all it was was more political posturing. gerald nice to see you tonight our very best wishes to you you have no wins when you're coming with me i was off let's see about it's three o'clock here in the afternoon and by the way we have a ball drop here in colonial kingston so the streets will be packed with people or you look like you're it is that for years i thank you for being without proof just not recorded so you know see you lovely well as new york times and again this is our third year together in from

a warm for two years thankfully that's right we're now in the final moments of twenty thirteen here in moscow it's tradition here in russia to hear a new year message from the president right before midnight chimes we can cross to the kremlin provides him her putin's address in just a couple of many other really are not there now and we'll bring you the crowds in red square there at the fall of the cold to welcome the start of twenty forty and hopefully the struggles of fireworks as well from a nice of maybe the whole team here let's hand you know over to the president's address and the twenty thirteen to fourteen apply.

there you lose your friends mr miller but we're about to enter a new year. fourteen. new few minutes which i think we will take a step or two on the present into the future. at meijer to celebrating this wonderful holiday is one of our most heartwarming traditions see additional revenue . and as it has done for a new generation to generation bringing us all together in the ocean got to number of course we face some problems and serious trials in twenty thirteen don't include

in the atrocious terrorist attacks in volgograd the vogue idea and the under president and the natural disasters anything in the far east and then you must look at the news but then you russia has always stood united in face of trial. but i'm going to better you that this year dear friends i address you are new year's eve not from the moscow kremlin as usual and i'm in the far east i came here to celebrate new year's day with the people who are strong and brave in the face of the elements but who don't yet have a new home of their own to celebrate their stay there in mr together with these people i want to wish our country a happy new year and raise my glass to our people so that only the health of all those who valiantly fought the floods and all those who showed compassion and genuine generosity that i give to your friends and school in

a way mourn the victims of the brutal terrorist attacks we hear and we will continue to fight the terrorists through a determination that audience the resolve and commitment until they are all gone will but dearly will provide support for the victims and their families we will accomplish everything we have planned with them knowing we will restore a build everything we have decided to restore our belief about that. of course already but i should also mention that we have achieved a lot in twenty thirteen will our country has become better wealthier and a more comfortable to live in is what we consistently protect our national interests it would in dealing with others that is why today we welcome the new year with joy we are full of expectations and your dreams niched about the future we did when we knew wherever we are right now this emotional atmosphere of new year's eve fills us with optimism. something we genuinely expect happiness is

your fortune and success which it was. because we all know that prosperity does not come out of nowhere that what we see below i will come as a result of hard work and individual efforts as a result of perseverance in achieving your goals is less than a mission he totality of these personal achievements makes up the future of our motherland. and as we care about our families our children our parents and we also feel responsible for russia the country we live in a country we love the country we want to prosper if you choose to ease emotions and aspirations strengthen our unity it being together is the only way for us to be strong make sure russia keeps developing and to make all our plans and ideas come true that are your friends in the coming year we will have

a lot of things we need to do to develop our economy to make people's lives better to ensure their security not someone with we have a little over a month left before the olympics we need to make sure the games are perfect and i would mean the new year's eve it becomes particularly clear to us how close we all arguably scheme. you know it let us think one another for understanding and support for love those who care is a good thing in our daily lives where often so busy we forget i do that but least you know it is a supporter of our family and friends that we know we can always rely on him and his is what makes a strong and eager to help them as they have helped us and even more is that with you i wish you a healthy and happy new year for me every house to be full of joy and may everything enjoy harmony and prosperity which sadly

twenty fourteen he'll get into russia right here i. i .