way to go to the grand imperial truly. push coromandel you can. see don't need to go and. read this in the can it was such a treat. human rights activists accuse america's people protection policy of double standards claiming washington's branching out of. the self-proclaimed republic of kosovo to cross the ballots in sunday's election but minority serbs are losing their body nation can enter the. last winter descends on the follow volunteers on a mercy customs and bring food medicine and shelter. to get. loose.

seats in. russia's prime minister his voice to children's cancer charities as he leads an all star course in st petersburg. it's one pm here in the russian capital coming to life twenty four hours a day welcome now events across america to mark human rights day were designed to underline the country's perception of itself as a leading light on protecting freedom but some of the country's activists are not convinced that recent human criticism is leaving washington battling to restore its reputation on rights. takes up the story. what speaks louder. actions or words we recognize the inherent dignity and rights of every individual a promise by the u.s.

president and a requirement outlined in the universal declaration of human rights thirty articles outlining basic standards of life inalienable rights for all people. article three everyone has the right to life liberty and security of person with every drone attack with every. invasion and occupation of a foreign country with every overthrow of a foreign government that the united states happens not to like or happens not to agree with every one of those is a violation of that one article political commentator nima shirazi accuses the us of falling short of a killing several of the principles it helped create article five no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment with every detainee kidnapped and rendition and. you know tortured in guantanamo or and or elsewhere. that's yet another

violation the land of liberty is also the land of the incarcerated with the world's largest prison population. two point three million people behind bars more than three thousand languish on death row. article twenty five everyone has the right to a standard of living including food clothing housing and medical care at the dawn of the new millennium. we set concrete goals to forty our fellow men women and children from the injustice of extreme poverty us figures indicate nearly forty four million americans are living in poverty even more people lack access to affordable health care and fifteen million are officially unemployed. meanwhile an estimated one million u.s. families are set to lose their homes this year alone as president made it clear that the united states will do our part last month the u.n.

human rights commission made clear in two hundred and twenty eight recommendations by how the u.s. can improve its human rights record i'll be the cause of beauty is not just happening there one city one state is that where america needs to stop stars and stripes stained with accusations of police brutality racial profiling of minorities . and islamophobia. and robert redford the country most vocal in chastising others for what it sees as human rights abuses is now taking heat for violating a declaration it co-wrote maybe american poet ralph waldo emerson put it best when saying what you do speaks so loudly i cannot hear what you say. new york but america's human rights focus is currently set. calling for china to

free the peace prize winner china to. jail dissident describing it as a political fuss insult to its judicial system even so there was a standing ovation at the ceremony in the way that friday represented chad that's because he's serving an eleven year sentence for subversion. chinese authorities also banned his wife from attending the laureates was awarded for his work on human rights it's called inform us about the nation's quantas his release raising questions about double standards and rights until war activist brian becker says the peace process political and china is right where you see. the united states as used human rights of the mantle of human rights as a way to deal with the governments it wants to overthrow that that was certainly the case in the old former soviet union it's been the case in cuba it's the in the

case of china today i think the united states wants to overthrow the government of china even while it's doing business with it there's an organic tendency by the united states to overthrow or try to overthrow every regime that follows an independent path the nobel peace prize is up is a political prize there's only been one chinese person in the history of this prize has ever gotten this award and it happens to be the man who's championing crusading against the existing government in china and he's embraced by all of the western powers that's not an accident that's a political act so the u.s. is using human rights as a political football to demonize those who it wants to overthrow it wants to air a gate to itself the idea that it can be the champion of human rights compiled the list of who are the human rights advocates and who are there are assailants of course the americans just on the basis of being the seven hundred pound gorilla sitting wherever they want to were thinking that they can try to arrogated themselves this kind of authority but i think most of the world has seen through it

right now and in fact sees the united states for what it is. with r.t. and coming up on the program some hope for the homeless as the long russian winter sets in. on patrol around the city because night time heroes. find out how just. nearly three years after her split from serbia the self-proclaimed state is holding its first parliamentary election but the serb minorities say they feel like outcasts among the ethnic albanian dominated population and the sarah firth reports they have little hope that their vote will bridge the divide began and her family live in a small serbian enclave in cos of a it's a fairly so that she existence here largely cut off from the way the albanian community and it'll change from the war in the one nine hundred ninety s. which divided the country and rita generation this was built at the height of the

cost of the war to protect the serbian community behind it from gunfire that would come from the right to the albanian populated area and there were names today college remind us of the continuing ethnic conflicts. national bed i remember the wall being built after a neighbor was shot by us he worked on the land near the road we still live in fear here it's harder for the children living such a separate existence they begin to think that's just how things are the elections are the first poll since the breakaway province declared independence from serbia in february two thousand and eight belgrade has made it clear that although they went penalized for taking part they do not recognize those organizing the elections and a week turnout would significantly undermine the vote credibility. i'm

not going to vote because for us now it's not the time for elections when we don't lead a normal life. begun as per the shays of the families two cars when with cars the number plates and one was serbian. driving on the route with serbian number of police here in kosovo would be too dangerous. it was an accurate warning we visited drainers a town that's been at the heart of many cars of a albanian nationalist movement of filming was interrupted by the police they spotted us serbian fixes number plates we were detained and questioned before being tailed out of town by locals also unhappy with our presence there the message was clear serbians not welcome here it was also a stark insight into the divisions of power and fractured governance that remains in kosovo we don't have checks and balances between. power. we

don't have just as functioning because its size very controlled just in order for themselves to have free hands to do whatever they want the previous reading coalition parties a tip to the favorites to win power again despite controversies including. sions collaborating with organized crime groups one issue dominates their campaigns the main the main point and the main goal is integration within european union it's a familiar catchphrase and wonder holds ne sway with the opposition even though it's pure propaganda in their mouth kind of you know euro atlantic integration the goal of e.u. integration isn't likely to be realized until the cost of they get its own house in order and address the very serious barriers which is still dividing its people. r.t. possible. as the freezing grip of the russian winter sets in the life of moscow's

homeless is becoming increasingly precarious with temperatures plunging the risk of death is rising making the services of volunteers all the more vital ati's tom barton reports on attempts to bring help to the needy that's not right the homeless gather there waiting for salvation but it comes in the form of a bus a bus run by the orthodox church charity mercy. i want to wish good health to all crew of this mercy bus they always take your. although if it is a hard to come by it's estimated there are around a hundred thousand homeless people in moscow this faithful and its crew travel around the main railway stations every night trying to help them stave off the worst of the winter's cold we follow their patrol while they get medical attention and take these tablets and who got in see the doctor in the morning. help to keep

the weakest warm. person on the move mission and try to help some of moscow's most helpless residents just because he's got the problem of i do this work because i can't help but do it i just can't live my life peacefully when someone else is freezing to death in the streets. when we reach one of moscow's biggest stations the team has to turn away many hopefuls like you can with he's only thirty two and he's not allowed to go on a bus but he's going round bugging us to say to make way for those in the worst condition and remove the cheap alcohol that does such damage to. this man would never have reached the bus if they hadn't found. him from this year is that among all the homeless people we come across we can only choose thirty or thirty five of the most needy ones at most and each time i'm afraid of making those choices each of these people has a tragic tale of how they ended up and for many though it's russia's nightmarish

bureaucracy has prevented them from working they did it to give i spent thirty years in many prisons i had no idea whatsoever. and once on the streets state help is going to scams certainly but those that social services just don't have the budgets and so they only deal with muscovites our organization is public and lives off the nations that's why we help everybody who needs us irrespective of their age gender faith nationality or citizenship the news of the bus is nearly full now the team will let these people sleep aaron to mourn. then give them a full meal and a shower but then there's no other place for them except back on the streets night after night this bus and its crew provides a lifeline for the homeless people around the city's train stations but as the winter gets colder we're going to come to meet it more and more tom watson r.t. . well now to some other international news this hour

a roadside bomb blast in southern afghanistan has killed fifteen civilians their truck was carrying them to a nearby bazaar what it hit a homemade device it happened in helmand province which is one of the country's most violent regions and where nato troops are struggling against taliban insurgents. a royal wedding a football match in jordan has left some two hundred fifty people injured according to the hospital officials the match was between jordan's largest palestinian team and a jordanian team from a fierce rivals eyewitnesses say the palestinian fans were pelted with rocks by actual danes and it was as they try to leave the stage or riot police reportedly sealed the ground and five tear gas was in panic triggering a stampede. this is affected leader of a mexican drug cartel is among eleven dead following two days of fierce clashes between security forces and gang members thanks again officials saying those are

a marina nicknamed the craziest one was gunned down in a shootout with police in the west of the country the violence began on wednesday when gang members attacked federal police cars on a road in the city of a down and eight month old baby who was also killed in the crossfire. and the u.n. summit has approved a crucial deal on oranges aimed at tackling climate change on the final day of the conference they agreed to set up a green climate on one of measures to combat global warming but libya was the only country to reject the deal saying don't do well enough the country was open. now there's plenty more to come this hour and just ahead few hitting the high notes . yes find out what the the pointing to the state. and showing off his skills on the

. front of a star studded the audience. as you watch this tape i can only imagine the fear and the despair that you face for this is being recorded for viewing only after the disappearance of god's people from the earth. well it's a clash of cultures it's a clash of civilizations. or do we enjoy the blessings of liberty. really. the only one that actually respects the rights.

one of the time and exclaimed. god bless you. the u.s. defense secretary has praised the afghan president on his muted response to criticism against him veiled and they just wiki leaks cables robert gates met with. the visiting several american military bases in the country he also said he's convinced washington strategy in afghanistan is working with you contributed says america's actions that have little to do with political reality. despite the polls trini its efforts in blood and treasure the united states has failed to control the situation

in afghanistan due to obama's surprise visit deliberately and not he failed to meet with honey because i will symbolically it says a lot about american all nato control of afghanistan after the nine plus years of american led occupation of that country because of the as commander in chief failed to connect personally we've kind of got as i after this embarrassing week a leak revelations he dispatched robert gates to meet with time you've got his eye so he could conduct damage assessment and to minimize the political collateral damage which resulted from the way kili x. files and robert gates has successfully accomplished his mission to knows better than anybody else that despite the best efforts by american and basters and generals in steel doesn't matter for washington decision makers far as afghan

strategy review is concerned because what really drives that american policymakers behind the scene has nothing to do we have the political realities reach at the end of the day will be just another extension of the junior bush afghan policy to do more of the same and to pray and hope for the better whether it's in afghanistan pakistan or elsewhere. and of course make chickenshits his book is always online at www dot com for you and there's also more the day's news and analysis on a new club site. but that means that the show reports on the most. what it splashing out on. and could be awfully shills on the lips of americans news then left the. us why spending hours of

tourist traffic is not necessarily tied to motorists learning new skills while stuck in the jobs. and all the details of l.t. . now he's used to taking to the stage but it's speeches rather than souls of the normally his speciality not this time they're doing the routine made his audience sit up and take notes as he sang at a charity fundraiser. louis. yes hitting behind that cd the two mega star studded single sharon stone general of the food you and mickey rourke are among the celebrities gathered in st petersburg for a concert to raise money for a child with cancer charities russian prime minister to call a few rivalries and showed off his skills on the planet.

there you have it well they throw darts to the injuries that takes a look at moscow by its transatlantic appetites. from starbucks mark donaldson when it comes to american culture most muscovites love anything to do with the good old u.s. of a but it's not just all about food and drink american arts us all things fashion design and music it's all very popular here in modern day. or what this moscow out is here in just over an hour's time now you're on the guest list for a traditional caucasian wedding high up in the mountains in ten minutes time but before that the business news now was shot.

hello welcome to business program here on r.t. with me shelton was folly russian prime minister vladimir putin has met his finnish counterpart in st petersburg economic issues are on the agenda as russia is still the prime trade partner for finland bilateral trade has recovered closer its pre-crisis level thing eleven billion dollars during first nine months two thousand and ten as almost a quarter on the year both sides of seal several agreements including a ship building venture which would help russia to embrace state of the art ship manufacturing technologies. now russia is to join the w.t.r. in two thousand and eleven after seventeen years of negotiations discuss this in more detail i'm joined now live in the studio with us of all that head of research at deutsche bank here in russia thank you very much for joining us so russia's finally becoming a member of the w t a how soon can we expect changes to the economy here in russia

i think in the very near term. what we will see is capital inflows of foreign investment into russia that will be the first reaction. with respect to the economy and then the longer term implications will include. you know implications related to trade a boost to exports but also imports but given the transition periods in the agreements that russia has with w t o countries the trade the facts are likely to be longer term than the more immediate the more short term investment inflows and who do you think will benefit more from russia session well i think in terms of investment we will see that the retail sector the consumer sector will be one of the main beneficiaries in general i think the russian consumers of course the prime beneficiary of w t o accession because there is going to be more competition prices are going to be. depressed through competitive pressures and

then across sectors i think a boost to exports in the metal sector will be especially pronounced because if you look at the pattern of antidumping duty's and overall restrictions against russian exporters most of them are against russia's exports of metals so i expect some of the companies in that sector to be among the main beneficiaries of the beauty of accession and do you think by joining the way that russia's drive to become more modern will speed up yes i think it will certainly be one of the key boosts to russia's modernization efforts partly this is due to the fact that investment inflows will accelerate into russia we saw the facts that took place say with regard to china after w two accession. inflows foreign direct investment was very significant i expect a similar effect for russia and then there's greater investment foreign investment

of course will be very important and addressing the infrastructural needs within the country now russia has said that it tends to enjoy doing the fed but leave from the customs union that house with better rethink of the what do you think this means then for the union well i think it's not necessarily bad for the future of the customs union if anything this will serve to accelerate russia's efforts to. gain membership in the w t o and once russia is in the w t o this should facilitate the efforts of kazakhstan and belarus to join the w t o so overall this should be a factor that will bring all of the countries of the customs union into the w t o which in turn is again a very important catalyst for the development of this integration group of this customs union and so there has been speculation that perhaps the three member customs union will turn into a six member one. what do you think about what's your opinion i think it's very

likely i think the economic weight of this union is going to be quite significant these are dynamic economies that will grow some of these economies have significant natural resources large markets and this is of course a major attraction for some of the countries in the near abroad and i think also we will see efforts on the part of some of the countries from the for abroad to forge alliances agreements with this customs union and chaos loves the volley head of research a jewish man can russia thank you very much for joining us. russian markets ended mixed on friday with the r.t.s. gaining in the my six pointing downward there is nickel was the biggest winner in the r.t.s. over over one point five percent bucking the trend there was lukoil that shed point six percent also a commonwealth now finished one point seven percent higher airflow shares have jumped four point three percent on news of the stakes. russian markets began the

week strongly after last friday's rally on the back of a successful world cup bid but slowed by midweek mainly due to profit taking john hazel from citi bank of russia recaps the week but most exchange for the most part this week is flat because i think the incredible enthusiasm we saw last friday last friday's trading after the after russia won the world cup bid for twenty eight team a lot of the died out throughout the week this property king cetera so the only real one of the main events this week was with x five finally announcing the acquisition of. that acquisition looked to be done a pretty much. your average market valuations it doesn't look like they got a bidding war with wal-mart that was good for x five but as a whole the market was basically flat on the week and measure up day for this but you can always find more stories on our website r.t. dot com slash business.