people here despite the bitter winter cold but that protest unfortunately did not last very long some people started breaking down the windows of the parliament building trying to push through the doors destroying the property riot police pushing them back almost immediately clearing out the square our crew actually got injured in the process while filming and the crowd right by the windows riot police started pushing everyone back until like hell and actually got hit on the head with a police baton so they were able to continue their work there feeling all right but it was still quite a sight it seemed for a moment that police couldn't really distinguish between civilians and journalists anybody that was in the crowd risk getting hit or kicked for a punch. only later did they seem to distinguish the foreign journalists protesters and actually tried to avoid the press we saw some protesters being cornered by rival spending quite severely was quite

a frightening sight right now it does seem that everything is calm down riot police are gaining control of the square have cleared out all of the protesters there are still some groups. about a block there very small rescue people and each one in there very quickly cornered by riot police detained and moved off waiting a police car and saw a lot of people being detained a lot of people were injured as well in the protests that turned violent in a matter of moments what have just as quickly been staying with law officials. are going to say we're here to defend our freedom which is being threatened by one man who's in power and he's making all the decisions but i'm still is that the entire system is riddled with fear we've just seen where the presidential candidates look human a client beaten brutally flares went off everyone was put down on the ground and told to stay down as we heard the attacker swearing the book to us in our booth and began stealing our equipment like old people were kicked out some of us regrouped.

came here to be changed so of course many people showing the will to protest what they believe a fraudulent election presidential election that seems to be once again won by incumbent president alex on that has apparently enjoyed a fourth consecutive win in a presidential election the only presidential elections that valerie's has had a force for all of the one playing becoming president next on that lukashenko pointing to opposition leaders these results are falsified and the over eighty percent that lukashenko a seemingly gathered according to exit polls is also a falsified number that's precisely why they were out in the street so far international observers haven't reported any major violations in gold they heard of one registered record where an international observer was denied access to a polling station but so far that is the only report on the record and we are of course waiting to see whether international observers will wake or a more detailed report of their observations of the money incentive in as their

having a positive conclusion is a very big one the european union has promised umbrella respond a lot of financial aid billions of euros if there is evidence of free and democratic elections perhaps that is why look so that will allow the opposition some semblance of freedom giving them on air time and sanction anti-government rallies but critics of course say that that is all for show international observers are still to publish their reports and we'll of course update you when we get them . the most the region isn't secure with more than four hundred people detained as part of attempts to prevent violence links to ethnic tensions there arrests four in a recent wave of clashes between russian right wing groups minorities and pretty yes more than three thousand people have been detained in the last week one in surat to an eagle protest a days ago following the death of a food will find in a bowl with native north cool cations the gathering turned into a ride with ethnic minorities and police at. but there was

a repeat of the clashes on wednesday when extremist russian gets in my grasp of the north says that for every medical friend taisha amount suspected of the meeting and arrested today by a grant from kurdistan is now in jail president dmitry medvedev authorities not to hesitate to use force at press ahead of. clashes fighting and vandalism are not just administrative violations but crimes and those who commit these crimes should be locked up rather than just told off the police should be using their legal authority to avenge extremism option and incite looting ethnic hatred what happened in moscow and in some other russian cities has shown you that requires very efficient management i'd like to draw attention to the fact that inciting ethnic violence in our country is a heinous crime that dick cheney should be stupidly. u.s. senate democrats have beaten by a second republican attempt to scuttle ratification of the new start nuclear arms

reduction treaty with russia a motion by senator jim risch has been defeated hot on the heels of a similar one by john mccain who called for there to be sent back to the drawing board meanwhile president obama is urging ratification as soon as possible saying it's critical for national security monday is the largest day for democrats to push it through before you senate is formed in january in which republicans will have more seats in the new strategic arms reduction treaty was signed by and to be tremendously different barack obama in april and will slash the two countries nuclear arsenals by a third but it's going to come into force until ratified by both sides something this close as it's been ready to do for months and democratic strategist robert wiener told us here that failure to pass the treaty puts global security at stake. we're talking about terrorists that could get at the nuclear weapons because we're not doing sufficient inspections on the security in the safety of the facilities

when you have twenty thousand nuclear weapons and all over the world anybody can get at them but that's just too darn many to be honest and how can we persuade iran to go to zero when we have twenty thousand and won't reduce them that would be a ridiculous statement of immoral proportions so we have got to take the proper steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons and this treaty is a small step toward that wonderful goal. this is all seeing and coming up for you later in the program links to secret detention centers and all going trafficking. against kosovo's prime minister find out who is behind the what he has to say about it and why some sad to say the revelations are not surprising. this week so continuing and rest in the streets of europe as governments seek to impose austerity measures across the continent in economic crisis at a summit in brussels the you've created

a permanent fund to bailout here isn't countries a trace of bankruptcy a strike in greece close schools by accident course and disrupted public transportation and trade union station restorations in france luxembourg belgium the czech republic and spain and the danish member of the european parliament morten messerschmidt spoke to all take about what the clear is the crisis is proving the euro to be and relates to. the euro as a construction has created this problem because it has destroyed the southern europeans countries so competitiveness and the bailout now is just prolonging and thereby crew creating an even bigger problem because the depths will just to grow and grow and if you know yourself reacting to it desperately introducing the suggestion on the on the euro bonds of course we need to be solidarity in the european union but we also need to be enormously realistic and the realism of the euro zone is that it doesn't work it hasn't been working for four years and there are at least several non harmonious regions within the euro which make it

impossible to maintain a common currency so i think that the even the strongest part of a little have to either recognize that we need to have one hundred percent of government from brussels and since the europeans don't want to have to go with the second lie which is to admit that the euro is a failed currency for spain is going to most likely going to be the next big topic either spain or portugal and spain the unemployment rates are right now around twenty percent which is the future which puts a huge pressure to the finances. even the stream of different rises just getting bigger and bigger you have more to go for as we do from the above everybody. there will be disaster strikes the spanish economy because you go through countries are interlinked through severely economical terms so when i don't know whether porter goss green falls first but when the one falls the other one will do as well let's now have a look at some other news stories from around the world people have plenty more

wounded into our tyson afghanistan saw taliban militants stormed stormed an army recruiting center in the northern city of couldn't do with two of them detonating suicide vests the ensuing five five lasted five hours local officials said in the second attack militants ambushed a biassed carrying army officials to the center of kabul they taliban has claimed responsibility for a tux. at least twenty seven people have been killed after an oil pipeline exploded in the central mexican state of where blood so to two people were injured while scores of houses were destroyed in the blast a government spokesman said the first explosion occurred as attempts were made to steal gas or oil from the duct and this triggered a success of smaller blasts of forcing people to leave a small town fifty five kilometers outside mexico city firefighters say the flames are out of control. severe weather across europe has shut major airports and

stranded thousands of travelers hundreds of flights from london's gatwick and heathrow have also been cancelled to resource a major air disruption in france italy and the netherlands traffic accidents caused by the conditions that led to several deaths in germany while a belgian died when the snow laden route laughed at him so hard to say the arctic temperatures are predicted to last well into the new year. russian prime minister vladimir putin held his annual q. and a session this week with the russian public but has spent four and a half hours on live t.v. answering some of the million plus questions which flooded in on an overcoat followed the event. not quite truth there and his annual q. and a session the russian prime minister wasn't given a choice and some of the questions were rather daring like the one about former oil tycoon mikhail who that core ski who is currently serving an eight year term in prison for fraud and tax evasion it was

a question that got put in going to just like a character in a famous russian movie i'm sure that the thief's place is in prison because he's accused of stealing tax evasion and fraud with the new charges he faces is about stealing hundreds of billions from his company security chief is in prison for murder they didn't like the mayor of nifty you ganske so they killed him then there was another woman in moscow who refused to sell her little stool to them and they killed her when they didn't like the hitman they hired he's dead as well. another sore spot was the issue of recent ethnic clashes between russian vaticanus and people from the north caucasus that the government failed to prevent the prime minister said nationalism is a common disease. radicalism is like a virus if society weakens the main system goes down diseases start to spread but if society is mature and these bugs of radicalism and extremism simply lie dormant we can't cause any damage but. russian's domestic worries too can everything

from social security and police reform to real estate prices and if you foreign policy issues were touched upon as well such as the recent spying many of that has spread across the atlantic to reset a bit and then yes i mean we don't need to use special squads to punish traitors i can assure you all of them will full of the push themselves they can take their thirty pieces of silver but it will stick in their throats the video conference was held in the other charities and a big matter the form it was introduced by bush and when he was still president back in two thousand and one and then become a prime minister he's continued the tradition of the annual informal discussion with the public and as ever he likes a good joke politics mixed with a little ironic humor. in the country when you and president medvedev are sleeping . we sleeping. larry everything is under control.

now that explains why is a city that never sleeps after an exhausting q. and a session of four and a half hours russian prime minister vladimir putin can now go and rest as russians now know they will still have their backs covered about artsy moscow. and as we heard the fate of me hail holder of course was touched upon in that q. and a session this week or most kuku or delayed its verdict in the second trial of the former oil tycoon until the twenty seventh of just to say and he faces charges over the seven billions of barrels of oil from his company alone during the proceeds the sooner you get c.e.o. was arrested in two thousand and three and is currently serving an eight hundred jail term for fraud and tax evasion and if he's found guilty he'll stay in jail for another six years if the court clears what of costco of the latest charges he will be released next year the forty seven year old made his fortune during the turbulent ninety's through their privatize ational state assets which made him

russia's richest man. you know with our sea and so the head blasting off for the holiday. as well as the rocket laughs off the coast the golden globes are. so casually option a couple of minutes here we are seen and also. bringing a century old christmas tree to light up the heart of moscow getting in the festive mood here on wall street in just a few minutes. the u.n. security council has met in imagines a session at russia's request to address escalating tension on the korean peninsula four screws war is come as south korea announced new military exercises along the disputed border to begin with in a few hours russia's u.n. ambassador said his country's concerns the war games threaten unpredictable developments in the region north korea attacks this south last month in response to

similar naval maneuvers russia and china both called on south korea to cancel the drills while the u.s. has condemned repeated north korean aggression or died in last month's northern artillery assault on a southern island but beyond young is warning it will strike even harder next time the security council drafted every solution calling on all parties involved to avoid any steps that will worsen tensions but they also agree on the political analyst regard frank says russia is best placed to act as a mediator in the korean conflict. russia is the only country that does have a stake box no specific interest career which actually is a difference between russia and the european union still russia can actually be a trustworthy and reliable mediator a neutral broker the one interest that russia does how concerning korea is stability but not her there is a situation emerging good market for

a major war that will inevitably not only involve both careers but also china us that will have a negative effects on the ability in the region and on russia and hands russia's major preoccupation is actually maintaining peace. u.s. officials claim the war effort in afghanistan is on track and making progress bounce back on america soil it's a message if you will people are willing to believe also he's going to take on that some who say it was costing the u.s. to. at the same time as obama was trying to put a good face on the war in afghanistan we are on track to achieve our goals hundreds of people were marching outside the white house calling those announced ghouls lives which benefit just selected few years ago no one of the overall giants of the defense bunch argued that they were going in the only language that they understand and shutting down even if you use all the natural doing here today we're going to

continue to do it will do one thing all over. the u.s. says it will take its forces out of afghanistan by twenty fourteen but many people believe that that line could be stretched indefinitely it will take time to ultimately defeat al qaida it's been a year since obama stepped up efforts in afghanistan by adding thirty thousand troops to the existing contingent there it's also been the deadliest year for the u.s. forces there with casualties almost doubled in many places the gains we've made are still fragile and reversible but there is no question we are clearing more areas from taliban control and more reclaiming their communities you hear a different message from veterans like man who fought in afghanistan having been there myself i can tell you the u.s. army is not a liberating force it is not a nation building force it is a destructive force the mission statement is to engage and destroy the enemies of

the us and in close combat period there's nothing in there about bringing food to poor people a record sixty percent of americans say the oldest ten year old war in afghanistan has not be worth fighting both in terms of lives and dollars a new price tag was announced for the war this year one point two trillion dollars we could have universal health care for every working person in this country if one tenth of what has been spent on the war was spent on working people you know we could do it we could have saved their infrastructure in iraq and afghanistan if one tenth of what we spent on destruction had been spent on. construction. what about security people here don't seem to feel safer either i believe that our presence there and in all the interventions we've had across time in other countries only serves to make the world a lot less stable i think we're creating a lot more violence i think there are more if you would check this year compared to last year the number of taliban for example i think is increased. knowingly getting

arrested in front of the white house could hardly help and wars but these protesters hope if they shout loud and. clear that the wars that america has been fighting have taken trillions of dollars out of u.s. taxpayers pockets and apparently they will continue to do so and people who came here protesting outside the white house and hoping the president will see them from his windows are saying they don't buy into the argument the war on terror any more than a check on our washington d.c. . the council of europe has unanimously box an inquiry into the kosovo prime minister draft report suggested it was involved in a crime ring trafficking human organs so i'd say that a western governments knew that occasions about have been turning a blind eye to them for years on this habit has. this has never spoken to the media before he's been to hangry his brother went missing in the summer of

one thousand nine hundred ninety eight and no one has helped to find him while he went to work as usual with his friends to the barrage of it's mine and that was it i never saw him again we went to the police and everyone else we can think of after the war i thought there'd be an exchange of prisoners and hundreds of our binion's were freed the so many serbs are still missing now after twelve years i have lost all the international officials who didn't do anything when they easily could have his brother is one of the near two thousand four hundred people who went missing both during and after the lake kosovo war and is still unaccounted for and allegations leveled against senior members of the kosovo liberation army including the prime minister has since had she and the council of europe report although not help to ease the minds of men like this one in the report claims mr attaches links to organized crime dates back to when his then it's

a group became the dominant factor within the k.l.a. and the alleged decision of western powers to largely ignore its activity in the hope of establishing some form of short term stability in the region allow tetchy and his followers to assume positions of political pillow within kosovo in the years following the war. everybody including western countries knew all about these allegations for years but he wanted to keep them hidden the only. other was in charge here interests the use rule of law mission in kosovo says it will now launch its own probe into the allegations in general. on war crimes and obviously with crimes very serious. should be sufficient evidence. should we be responsible for doing with them we will certainly look into the issue. she has dismissed the reports is baseless and defamatory and is threaten to sue it's

another shocking twist in the history of this already troubled region. peacekeeping in police cars stun god twenty four hours a day each side of this bridge that divides the serbian and albanian parts of the town of meet the reeds or ten years after the end of the cost of the war an ethnic divisions here still run very deep bass with the release of this report people are now saying that they feel about a let down by the international community here supposedly charged with protecting them all these years. and don't forget to log on to our website at home where there are always more stories for you and here are some that kate and i. use this thing at dolls and entertain an iranian born in iraq has told us here about his international roots and skyrocketing korea. and leave it all

installs can sometimes feel like galleries but this time the luxury fashion house has got a real exhibition here in moscow and it's all right up until christmas get the details of. the new crew members of the international space station are making themselves at home for their stay in lasting almost six months they still use craft carrying three astronauts successfully dr the i assess on friday the crew brought seasonal gifts to those currently on board the station peter oliver was at the by canoe cosmodrome in kazakhstan with a blast off. over my shoulder you'll be able to see the soyuz t.m.a. twenty rockets that will be blasting off sending cosmonaut the meat to be called the last year and astronauts apollo in a scholarly from the european space agency and catherine colgan from nasa into space now this is the product of two years of very intense training in the trio will be spending six months on board the international space station while they're

up there they'll be carrying out a number of experiments and continuing the work in space that the international space station carries out now i think with the fireworks of the stuff behind me i'll let you get on with. going to go see it by you know as the story stimulates once the rocket blasts off from the coast majola kazakhstan sending the message to become the monster paolo nespoli and katherine coleman of the international space station. it takes pride of place at the heart of russia's capital over the festive season a century old christmas tree was delivered this week to the kremlin's cathedral square where it will stand tall for the next three weeks last year the tree was blessed by a russian orthodox actually b.c. it was blessed by russian orthodox priest for the first time and it will be

decorated with thousands of russian tricolor lights and ornaments christmas trees have been back in use of equipment for nearly fifteen years now when president boris yeltsin revived the praver evolutionary tradition since years event was accompanied by a theatrical showing including a visit from father frost and the rabbit the symbol of the coming yet according to the chinese calendar. that was our look at the big stories of the week and i'll be back in just moments. with the headlines.

did i kill innocent kids allies across the face of course and that's never answered . mamma sharpless cosco with me i think of it every day. i steal the flashbacks from the memories and laugh the same i saw a long time in the series trying to tell. i was ashamed. i was ashamed that i didn't. i was ashamed that i hadn't been a hero why. are my go lower legs.

in the mine. i'm proud to be our nominee or to. help out believe what i was going on once or i think. that i was a good soldier. but now most older on the other side and i think i'm just as good. damn the official t. application to go on. i pod touch from the i choose our story. one jaunty life on the go live. video on demand teasing line broadcasts and says feeds now in the palm of your. question on the t.v. dot com. lift.

lift if the. first. fifty feet. hello again this is artsy and these are the latest headlines on the week's top stories for you opposition demonstrations turned violent and valerie's with two presidential candidates among over one hundred people detained following clashes with police tens of thousands of blocks to the central square of minsk would a preliminary declare racial stating that current president alexander lukashenko won nearly eighty percent of the vote. ethnic tensions between russian nationalists and groups from the quercus and forces moscow authorities to take preventive security measures to avoid a new wave of plashers hundreds have been detained over the last twenty four hours

taking the total to more than three thousand in a week as a result of isolated clashes in paris part of the city. also no topic was off limits as prime minister vladimir putin to be seed for his annual q. and a session with the public nationalism and justice war among the issues that came up in the hour long discussion of the subjects covered included social security police reform prices. and europeans to speak out against their governments and the methods used to deal with their volatile economies the single currency is increasingly being seen as the root of the problem this came as leaders agreed to set up a permanent fund to rescue failing the eurozone economy. has been asked to declare the west bank and gaza strip an independent palestinian state even without a peace deal with these.