>> coming up, economic gloom is casting a shadow in france. christie will be telling us about that and much more in business. let's go straight to the top story. from russia's richest man to political prison to free man again. he has landed in germany after being released from a russian prison.

khodorkovsky is going to spend time with his mother as well as wife and children. he requested a release from putin, who granted it yesterday. he was pleased to be released in time for christmas but insist he did not admit guilt to corruption charges. jessica is standing by in berlin. what role did germany play in the release? publicly acknowledged he owes a lot of. the extra men foreign minister has been working for months to try to secure the release. he is the man who organized a private lane that flew him today. he has been an agreement with to try to government

secure her release. he has been working with his lawyer, and he asked putin that khodorkovsky be released on humanitarian reasons because his mother was very ill. the news of his release was met positively by german chancellor angela merkel. , and germany news will try to engage with rush on further human rights issues. on human rights issues. he will be in a hotel for the next few days, where he will be reunited with his family. all of this will be done away from public spotlight. today he said,

this is a man who is worn out. >> tank you for that update. that was jessica from berlin. i am joined by arctic gas -- by our guest. theare the head of international politics magazine. what is likely to happen now. khodorkovsky is in germany, but what does his future look like in russia? >> we don't know if he will return or stay in the west. andnow his family and wife children are staying in switzerland. after germany he will go to switzerland. takenther is currently care of in germany because she suffers from cancer, so we don't know.

today the head of the great state corporation said eventually they could even propose a jump. >> that is surprising. >> it surprising, but he said we don't have a top management could a copy -- ofdorkovsky will stay a lot time with his family because his children grew without him. he is very attached to his parents and especially his mother. asked what was his hero in life, and he wrote a touching text about his mother. i think he is not in the

think whaten now to will happen in a month or three months. we shall see. >> he insisted on a statement. admit toed he did not guilt, so he remained the fire. >> yes, but you should take the statement carefully. he did not admit his guilt, but he refused to ask for a pardon from the man who put him behind so,, so i think if he did it was the especially because his mother is seriously ill, and it was unbearable for him not to see her at the last. that's all we have got time for. we are going to cross over to washington, but thank you for joining us. u.s. president barack obama is

giving a press conference from the white house, and he is expected to talk about the past year's achievements and failures from obamacare to the spying scandal to security issues across the world come a just before the president and his family fly out to hawaii for the christmas holidays. phil, it has been a bad year for barack obama, hasn't it? >> he probably can't wait to get to hawaii for two weeks of holidays. you get a sign of how bad the year has been when the first question is, was this possibly the worst year out of the five you have been in the white house? it hasn't been a good one starting with the biggest a miss the problem for the u.s. president. that has been the disastrous rollout of the health care reform with a website that didn't work for a month, and

there are also priorities that didn't get done in congress. any kind of new anti-gun legislation did not happen. stalled,on reform has and there is plenty more. maybe the nsa scandal triggered i edward snowden and his revelation, so plenty more questions. the press conference is ongoing. we haven't had any more questions so far. that might change. >> issa 2014 would be a breakthrough year for the u.s. thomas saying the economy actually grew bigger than expected, but this is the first his familyke sipped gave a recommendation about the spying scandal. >> not a clear opinion from president obama from his words at this press conference. he is supposed to take those

recommendations and make a definitive statement in january. clear when we'll get a opinion about what kind of changes might be done. want slighthe might changes. remember the meta-data and phone records is the most controversial aspect. he might favor that being done by private companies with data not held by the u.s. government. that would be one major change. that's pretty much all we heard. no clear opinion about whether what edward snowden did was good or bad and no comment on whether he should get amnesty. this is clearly one of the big controversies of the year. remember a federal judge only recently said the nsa's

practices were slightly unconstitutional, meaning against the law. >> we have just had a wire saying obama said some checks are needed on the nsa system, but we cannot unilaterally disarm. au leaders wrap up a two-day summit in brussels, where they addressed political, economic, and security issues. at the top of the agenda, the italy'sion scandal in lampedusa, but also a trade deal with ukraine. our european affairs editor covered the story, and he gave us the highlights of this summit starting with a set of new rules on the banking system. >> first, regarding the banking

union there will be a new firm financed by the banking industry. 55 billion euros over the next 10 years. eu leaders will want to use this body. bein the future it will not taxpayers who foot the bill. there will also be a new agency with powers to shut the bank. this is an important development. will this work? critics will tell you 55 billion euros is tiny compared to the of eurozone banks, but it is an important step towards a stronger banking union. it is a sign that if they want to preserve the single currency, they will need a stronger corporation. this will only apply to the eurozone members. the french president has sought to rally support from european

for european intervention. a number of countries have agreed to by logistical assistance. some include troops. if the european mission happens we will have to wait for of council meeting in january. >> african mediators are calling for peace in south sudan. prevent the to country from plunging into a civil war. south sudan gained independence two years ago, but political and social crises remain. his formernt accused vice president of trying to topple him. that sparked a wave of at nick violence across the nation. is across theile nation. tens of thousands have fled

their homes according to the you in. >> -- to the un. shelter from violence. shelters have grown crowded with people in search of safety. clashes continue with forces and troops loyal to the former deputy. the united nations says 34,000 people are seeking refuge at you in basis in the capital and in the city near the center of the country. people who have taken refuge in our facility are the caretaker governor and some members of the state government cabinet. it is our understanding they are no longer under the control of the national government, and we are monitoring the situation very closely. >> the united nations as an in thursdays base lame the lives of two

peacekeepers and south sudanese who have shot -- sought shelter there. to masharye loyal seized on thursday. he admits he has called for the overthrow of the president. 460 people have and killed -- have been killed in the capital. soldiers have been fighting members of the ethnic group. u.s. president barack obama warned south sudan stands at the precipice of renewed civil war. the evacuation of american and european expatriates is underway, and african mediators are trying to rocher a peace deal. >> live from paris. --e is a reminder of our trying to broker a peace deal. >> live from paris. here is a reminder of our top stories.

has landed in germany after being pardoned i president putin. at least 20 civilians were slaughtered in south sudan. civilian from a different ethnic group sought refuge. this is sparking fears of a civil war. barack obama is holding an end of year conference at the white house. i look back at key events that marks 2013 before the u.s. president goes to hawaii for the christmas holiday. it's time for business news with kate moody. we are going to start with unexpectedly good news about the economy. the commerce department revised upwards its growth estimate to the fastest pace in two years. new data indicated gdp had grown at a rate of 4.1% between july

and september, from a previous estimate of 3.6. that was boosted by strong consumer and business spending, and it underscored cautious optimism about the future of the economy as it said it would start tapering back at stimulus program. barack obama said the economy is stronger than it has been in a long time. >> the unemployment rate has steadily fallen to the lowest point in five years. fiscal situation is firmer. >> that news has given wall street a boost. u.s. stocks trading in positive territory this friday. the dow and s&p hitting records at the last day of the trading week.

european shares seeing their best we can eight months. they are still seeing the effects of a strong rally after the federal reserve announcement this week. the did not react much to news of a downgrade. standard & poor's stripped the u of its aaa credit rating. the eu had been on negative watch for some time. leaders were finishing up a summit in brussels fresh off a deal to create a banking union which will in theory bring their economies closer together. officials from the united states and european union have wrapped up a third round of negotiations into creating the largest free trade agreement. tariffs are already low. the free trade agreement would help eliminate red tape and

would help industries from food to aviation to industry. the deal would not mean deregulation. >> a key goal would be to protect the rights of the government to protect public interest. >> we are committed to ensuring these negotiations wouldn't be privacy oromising other legitimate protections. >> now here in france the economic recovery has been weaker than many hope for. up aompany plans to wrap feeble .4% growth rate. michele reports. >> the decorations are up. the christmas lights are twinkling, but this year the

struggling economy means french consumers continue to spend less. shrinking income and high unemployment have forced many families to tighten their belts. >> this christmas is a lot quieter than previous years. people are buying fewer product s, whereas they bought more in previous years. marketcent survey by the research group found average spending is expected to increase for the first time since 2000 and eight. except in france, where families are expected to spend 0.9% less this year with an average household budget of 531 euros. they may be put off by an increasingly glum outlook. the country will see a sluggish

recovery, and he says growth 2.2%.low even further so are budgets haven't stopped shoppers from flocking to iconic department stores and christmas markets. the french may have less money to burn up, but the spirit of noel is truly alive. >> less than a week before christmas french customs authorities have destroyed 30,000 toys deemed unsafe. the items are believed to have smuggled from china, including soft toys and stuffed santa figures as well as plastic with higher than average chemical levels. that's all for this he dish and. -- this addition. >> that was kate moody. coming up, george a smith will bring us the latest news from africa. she will focus on the crucial presidential election in madagascar, and we will go live

to our reporter on the ground. >> hello, and welcome to web news, where we take a look at what has been hitting online headlines. show, a toy today's wolf becomes a protest in hong kong. bank'sopean central online game commemorating the new bank note and an actual car made entirely out of legos. based on the little red riding hood fairytale, a stuffed wolf at ikea. there is nothing subversive about it, if the cuddly toy has become a symbol of the opposition movement after one through one of the chief executive on december 9. it was a conscious choice of projectile. critics have long nicknamed the

head in hong kong the wolves. they say he is a puppet with the fed pulling the strings. plus the word for wolf found similar to a profanity in the cantonese highlight. it is no surprise the wolf has sold out in hong kong. a social media hit. it has its own facebook page, and as we can see from these photos online, whether it is by waving the wolf at demonstrators photos, the him and toy has been adopted by protesters in hong kong calling for democratic reforms in this colony. andmber of online phone games have been created. this pac-man game is one of the most popular. hong kong's chief executive has to escape the pack hot on his heels. to show he is not afraid, he has

issued a tongue-in-cheek response. he is posing with one of the cuddly toys, saying he will give it to his daughter for christmas. the european central bank has released an online game to explain the features of the new 10 euro banknotes, which will go into circulation next year. moving thensists of shapes to form horizontal lines. a level,e you complete it tells you about a security feature. this is in the first time the ecb has ventured into the videogame world. games likecb has -- inflation island where players step into the shoes of the director of the european central bank will get to play around demonstrateon to

how it impacts european economy. it's a way of reaching out to citizens. a number of banking and additions have recently turned to serious gaming. released thengland monetary policy balloon game. then there is the fed chairman game. the serious games share the same name. they want to inform the public aret monetary policies and used in a friendly fashion to make the process more fun. catalans are up in arms over a tweet posted last week in which the military status threatened combat vehicles and heavy police presence on the street if they vote for independence in the

referendum next year. the twitter post wasn't intended to be taken seriously. it was a joke but has angered catalan nationals who want an apology. there are 1.1 billion smokers in the world today, and 1000 people under the age of 18 and start smoking every day. it is a dangerous addiction and extremely harmful. cigarettes contain up to 4800 chemicals. from second someone dies disease. calledtogether this "smoking kills." gandhi as yoda. michael jackson as an ewok. hillary clinton as a storm asoper and nelson mandela

obi-wan kenobi. this is part of an exhibition in new york. web users can check them out at the gallery website. and they built an actual car that can travel at speeds of up to 30 kilometers an hour out of legos. it is no mean feat. it involves hours of work and up to 500,000 lego pieces. as you can see, it has been doing the rounds online. the end result is ready impressive indeed.

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12/20/13 12/20/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> granted us amnesty, but all of this is tempered by the fact we were arrested for a crime we did not commit, detained for two months, and our biggest feeling is that it is about time something positive happen. tois russia grants amnesty thousands of prisoners, we will go to st. petersburg to speak wi t