the latest news in the week's top stories russia sees the biggest protests in its recent history as people are unhappy with the parliamentary election results the revote. has now ordered an investigation into claims of violations jury last week's . fresh rift within the e.u. britain vetoes a new treaty tightening fiscal rules for but members and a move that many believe is a first step for the u.k. towards the exit door. liberated but desperate for money libyan authorities plead to the u.n. to release billions of the country's assets still frozen months after the end of military conflict that our top stories this hour.

with a look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is . and our weekly edition president dmitri medvedev has promised that all claims of violations during last week's parliamentary election will be investigated this comes after a post-election frenzy culminated in the biggest opposition rally in russia's recent history. never has the details. this rally took place a no the central school where where over twenty five thousand people came through so they came to the a revolutionary square but of the moscow c.b.s. story it is we're not alone people together they're good that's why then they peacefully proceeded to the boldness square where thousands and us also as of people were gathering found of they were of voicing their demands and the number one demand was so really the recount all those sounds are basically people that

gathered other this squares of a onces of the new election so to take up placing the russia meanwhile of the essential action committee size it will not recount the vote sounds those are the people who gathered out of the news squares who are gathering up for these a rally is that we're saying that if their demands are not some out so within the next two weeks of ballot they promise that they will gather again to approach cost rather meanwhile off through the the end of the rallies up president mitterrand if expressed his own view over the meetings of the rallies that took place in russia and the mosque two particular region he saw that he's quite satisfied with the way everything want especially how peacefully everything wound but he disagrees with the slogans on the announcements that were made during this rallies and meanwhile he promised that all the claims of the violations that took place during the parliamentary elections in russia will be of very carefully investigated meanwhile

today on sunday over a two hundred nationalists also gathered at the blog this where they were protesting against immigration but these rally and this mentioning also went quite peacefully in the a center of moscow to the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton how sad that she believed to the parliamentary elections that took place on before it's off a december in a rush up a war of the free. and her comments and her remarks were not so much mind the apply in ny that russia's foreign ministry nor prime minister vladimir putin the prime minister like even to accuse the us state department of mt laying into russia's national policy but also one of the russians the news agency life in using was open to any change of the e-mails between the russian non governmental again zation that was observing the elections and the u.s.

state department these documents represents a different commons over at the top six and especially the financing over the observers or by the u.s. state department. when one russian city demonstrators took a more play for the pro to organizing a toy protest and you can check that out on t.v. dot com from forbes and space aliens to penguins and dinosaurs all of which were waving toothpick banners protesting the election results you can log on to our website to see that. the election rallies in russia certainly didn't fail to catch the attention of the international media america's fox news contributor to the coverage with a somewhat over excited report capturing violent chaos in the streets ablaze the only problem with the footage it wasn't taken here in moscow. explains. america has its fair share of protests and political dissent to be dealing with instead of keeping an eye on the ball the country's mass media machine has turned

to protests in russia and dropped the ball on reporting the facts. thousands of protesters have gathered at moscow's lashing out against prime minister vladimir putin and his i think russia party the only problem is that this video is not from russia fox news channel aired a video of fires and chaos in athens convincing viewers that this mayhem is playing out in moscow the fair and balanced network paid no mind to the greek lettering in the background in case you're wondering it says greek national bank what matters is that this is what moscow protests have looked like it's not surprising whatsoever that at the moment that there would be any kind of protest no matter how small it be in russia against the russian government that it would be greatly exaggerated in media and used by the u.s. government as well as a way to try to somehow push for a change in russia that would be more favorable to u.s.

interests journalist and author eva golinger believes mass media is washington's most valuable weapon in encouraging revolt elsewhere under the mantle of spreading democracy such as the so-called orange revolution in ukraine. or ruse revolution in georgia. the perception is created that something is happening in the country that's not right and that the government is somehow responsible and so therefore if that government ends up being removed it somehow is justified that you know the media has played a key role in creating a justification for regime change similar anti-government demonstrators have been reported and other city in russia u.s. leaders have leveled harsh criticism against russia in the aftermath of the parliamentary election and critics say it's free press has worked to reinforce. the narrative the media tends to march in lock step with the government tends to take its cues from the government it tends to you know mobilize its resources to

showcase what the government says is true even when later it turns out not to be true as was the case in this a rooney a c.n.n. report well in eastern russia more than three thousand people protested against proposed changes to the country's time zones the video shown by c.n.n. is not of protesters but rather of soccer fans riding in moscow over the killing of a fellow supporter the problem is that we showed the wrong pictures only after the error was repeatedly noticed c.n.n. owned up to its mistake and to apologize to the era and a great many russian viewers who have pointed out to us the sloppiness of it or is reflecting you know the lack of awareness of the journalists themselves many of them are completely uninformed about the world they have opinions that have no factual basis to him but it doesn't stop them because it's what looks good that matters more than what really is true the truth is that america has its own social

economic and political challenges to be dealing with and while washington works on getting its own house in order powerful mass media outlets can work on getting their facts straight. r.t. . well asia times writer pepe escobar says the use of the wrong images by fox wasn't accidental. look i think folks news seriously that's a major mistake but i am merican said by people all across the world this basically is a p.r. operation of the republican party really a real we need not faction which is most of them of course c.n.n. basically is a mouse piece of the state department but i don't honestly i eat they will now have a release anything that was not free of proved instances of american government so don't take these people seriously what we should take seriously what's really happening inside russia and then you have to pay attention to russian media ok

there were some irregularities in the election just like very real averages in any election in european countries in the us in two thousand and four or in the us in two thousand and four in ohio what's more important in my opinion is what united russia should do to address griffiths is from barts of the russian population this is the real issue where you can log on to watch it all come to see how the election rallies have been developing here in russia taking it off picture gallery to see snapshots from the biggest rally in moscow in twenty years log on to head to the online exclusive section. it's already being dubbed europe's great divorce this week britain vetoed franco german plans to impose a fiscal agreement within the e.u. three countries will take the path to the national parliaments with all the other e.u. members agreeing to hand brussels absolute oversight of that budgets and it brings

us this report. reaction has been muted to the e.u. summit deal with observers looking sideways wondering what to really make of it a two speed europe is being formed almost all of the e.u. members have said they will forge ahead with the franco german plan of a new treaty resulting in a fiscal union with a tighter grip on finances there was only one clear no the u.k. decided to go it alone with british prime minister david cameron essentially saying we wish you the best but we're out i think what we saw was the biggest split in the european union in fifty years and whether david cameron knows it or not what he did was the first step towards the exit door a european marriage has soured britain was dubbed isolated but the rest will give it another go and those at the helm are determined to make the european dream work so e.u. leaders have agreed upon a general plan which as expected was no magic solution markets are still on shaky

ground and economic growth prospects are still bleak for several countries and while the euro lived to see another day leaders will have to go home and explain to their people why it should and what it would really cost the proper implementation is crucial to get this bear on the girls back past and member states i believe need to do more to fully implement the country specific recommendations so what does that mean for greece for example european leaders have just approved an eight billion euro trash of aid to prevent the country from going bankrupt in exchange greece promised to cut its deficit to five point four percent of its g.d.p. from a projected nine percent this year translation more tax hikes and spending cuts for greeks still reeling from previous hysteria measures. if we were to put this you're a package to the electorates of greece of portugal ireland officially of spain they would all say no and what of sovereignty the whole concept of national

sovereignty has become a very gray zone once we have bond each other together by means of a common currency. the great worry at the moment is that we're being asked to make sacrifices in the context of a plan supposedly for saving that you're keeping greece solvent which is not going to work specifics of this new treaty have yet to be drawn up and approved by march two thousand and twelve with so much at stake there will no doubt be a lookout for the devil in those details yes or celia r.t. brussels. well for more on the outcome of this week's e.u. summit i'm joined by international consultant and author adrian always good to talk to you again adrian former italian prime minister romano prodi said the most important outcome of the summit is the fact that europe will move forward without britain and london will no longer stay in the way of its decisions what do you make of that view. well in a way i can relate to what romano prodi has said because britain has been standing

in the way of many decisions in the european union but in this particular instance i would tend to favor the british position here because britain from the very beginning of them stood and they still understand far better than the european colleagues the importance of national sovereignty and the importance of having a sovereign currency the pound sterling has been issued by the bank of england since sixty ninety four and it definitely would not have been a good idea for britain to cede their sovereignty and what europe is now suffering many of the countries especially the smaller ones is a problem of sovereignty and when you see the sovereignty it means that somebody else somewhere else makes decisions for you now if the beer is our common view point on those decisions ok but when the interest party or ways that's what all the trouble starts and that's what we're seeing all the turmoil we're seeing in europe the different interests do not really with the v. interests of the more powerful nations of the european union you're citing there with britain's view do you think as we just heard in that report

a little earlier that the exit door is open for britain that's what was just said but do you think brit will actually walk through it and exit the e.u. i don't think britain will need to exit the e.u. i think britain that has five centuries of imperial experience will just stay put and watch the show one fall the thing that a lot of what we're going to be seeing quite soon certainly in the next euro crisis is that some of the other countries will exit the euro and thereby even start exit exiting the you probably because they can't do otherwise greece maybe ireland maybe spain maybe italy maybe portugal a v i have always said the european union and the euro have an expiry date we still don't quite know what that expire we will be but it sure seems to be coming very closely and i think britain will very shrewdly stand aside and watch the show on fold you talk about other countries possibly exiting the e.u. later on obviously we're seeing many governments of course agreeing with why. happening with this latest pact and showing some form of unity but you just

mentioned very interesting earlier about those countries obviously could lose their sovereignty of being told what to do with electric of those member states be willing to put up with this sort of. forcing from brussels in the long term and will see them turn against their own governments who want to be members well they already are turning against their own governments all the manifestations you are seeing in different parts of europe are a sure sign that a large portion of the people are dead set against these bought a bullion problem from brussels or from these bureaucrats or europe as if i want to call them so they're saying that people are realizing that the euro is a little bit like a procrustean bed a bed which is one size must fit all in greek mythology procrustes trees had made a bit he said anybody who was shorter than it he would stretch them out breaking bones and susan till he would and if he were taller than his bed he would chop or feet and lives to make sure it would fit so in a way i think we're going back to greek mythology and i think greece is a very case in point where they are trying to impose

a one size fits all and we have to understand that in the real world one size does not or you talk about greece and of course there'll be other countries who presumably be in a similar situation before not too long whereby with this new pact they're saying that those who break the rules will be fined and they've got to fit within that what they mustn't exceed their three percent of their g.d.p. their budget deficits must exceed that obviously greece is in a very difficult situation at the moment but surely we're going to see these countries or other countries like greece continually breaking the rules and simply can't afford to pay those fines. well you see basically and this is that i think that the best and somebody who can do they are looking at it from a financial and monetary point of view and they are not looking at from the point of view of the real the part of me which is real people working and producing and making a big effort so what we are seeing is how finance has completely the real economy in two thousand and eight we had a private dead crisis worldwide and the people paid for it now we have

a public debt crisis and again the people pay for it so finance has grown like a cancerous tumor so strong that it can impose its terms on the really colony of working people creating creative people and they can make us always pay the tab so just very very funny this part was aimed at restoring confidence in the euro it hasn't done that then at all with my just it's like living dead it may keep it alive for a little bit longer but there are definite we are growing crises down the road and those are the ones that i think britain is preparing to look at all aspects of international consultant and author agents alberici thank you very much for your thoughts there live in particular is thank you this is r.t. coming to you live from moscow and still ahead this hour british m.p.'s seeking to review extradition policies with the us. we need to make sure that we are being equal and we are being fair to our citizens and that is not the case of the boat. we look at how u.k. lawmakers are demanding a more level playing field when it comes to handing over their citizens to america

. and what came out of the global conference on afghanistan's future and why the key player in stabilizing the region pakistan boycotted the event. with libya's civil war over its people are now waiting for the new government to fulfill their promises but the authorities say they're struggling for cash and are asking the u.n. to release one hundred fifty billion dollars in frozen assets to pay wages and reports many libyans want to just who will provide for their future. after months of waking up to gunfire residents of tripoli now have to get used to a new alarm tone the city of two million people has an extensive rooster population and the birds have all but replaced rifle chatter as the heralds of the new dawn. there was no exchange of gunfire the situation is ok. this may be deliberate complete it's very few wanted to break free from the obligations of the old regime

on the surface it seems that the normal whole life in tripoli has been restored a city where many homes didn't have access to face to face the law in few months ago already has its fountains up and running but the new leaf it is still facing the danger of running in the shallow waters of international politics much of its absence remain frozen limiting the government's ability to pay salaries and profit if it has already become a major down part of the revolutionary spirit we first met muhammad in august on the frontlines of bani walid one of the final strongholds of the get out here regime a former angie nearing student he joined two of his brothers in what he says was a win or die fight for freedom three months later mohammad is definitely in the driver's seat revels of the country's new heroes popular with women and the public at large if not with a rifle by his side muhammad would be like a twenty seven year old in any other country cruising around on

a saturday night good. and it's not like he was under privileged under gadhafi regime he certainly leaves in a three hundred square meter house in the prestigious area of tripoli they say the revolution has brought them along the way to democracy but is yet to translate into concrete benefits we have free education on health care on the gadhafi the new authorities also have to decrease prices and raise salaries so that ordinary people can join all the benefits of the revolution. yes exactly how the new government can afford to do so in a country a ruling by war and stripped of much of its budgetary income is anybody's guess the forty two years of get out of his rule had told libyans to rely on government for just about everything. i have big plans for my life in a year or so god willing i want to finish my education get a good job and save enough money to marty it's all become possible for us now and

in national economies i'm not stopped being i think the fact that they were willing to destabilize a regime that had demonstrably one of the highest living standards in north africa goes to show the fact that they were not so interested in what benefited the people as a whole in the first place they were more interested in forming their their economic ties to the american oil companies yet for the moment the future seems breivik not please because it's also very blurred i suddenly got artsy tripoli. they think that you can find plenty more stories comments and the losses on our website that see what's in store for you right now should you go for. the wrong displays the intercepted cia drone plane days after the pentagon admitted that it lost touch with the high tech crowd also. driven to despair and enraged mother pulls the trigger on her children before committing suicide in the us food stamp itself to be denied assistance.

an international conference on stability in afghanistan has promised continued support to kabul off of the planned withdrawal of nato troops in twenty fourteen at the meeting in germany the world's powers pledged to provide financial assistance to the afghan government up until twenty twenty four when it's hoped the country will be economically self-sufficient together was boycotted by pakistan which is viewed as a key player in restoring peace in the region islam but refused to send the envoys in protest over u.s. airstrikes in the border area two weeks ago that killed twenty four pakistani soldiers called helen a columnist a foreign policy in focus magazine things washington's role in the region supposed reckless and dangerous. the attack itself it's hard to see that as an

accident because of the way that it took place and then the response of washington afterwards i think what's happened is that the united states has made some decisions about its strategy in the region both in central asia and in the south in south asia that essentially is going to cut pakistan out of the formula and i don't think united states cure is very much what's going to happen after withdraws its troops in two thousand and fourteen and i think they would rather not withdraw their troops which is the nub of the problem because just on november second russia china iran and pakistan had a meeting in istanbul which they all agreed that they would crash or the united states not to leave troops in afghanistan and i find it very difficult to imagine it is fallout in relations between pakistan and the united states is not somehow try to their position i think this i think this chess board is much broader there

than we then we imagine it to be and it includes really multiple zones some of them worldwide. in the next hour we also hear from russia's spokes person on afghanistan about his views on the country's future in our special interview. with his a look at other stories making news around the world in this hour as world update fresh violence has killed at least twelve people in syria as clashes between activists and military forces continue but many of the deaths were in homs where dark clouds of smoke filled the air during the violence the syrian government has given protesters in the region until monday night to stop demonstrations and surrender their weapons syrian president bashar assad recently rejected act is ordered the deaths of protesters and the estimated four thousand people have been killed in syria since crisis began nine months ago. in the protesters clashed with israeli soldiers as they held a funeral for a fellow demonstrator the deceased victim was killed after being hit in the face by

gas canister fired by israeli troops on saturday the army's use of gas canisters has come in for strong criticism in recent years the west bank has seen frequent demonstrations in its rural areas against jewish settlements and the building of israel's separation barrier which has compromised palestinian farmland. having this video petrol tanker exploding in melbourne in australia the driver was offloading fuel when the rig became engulfed in flames and the blaze sent many scrambling for safety investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the explosion. british m.p.'s passed a motion to review a controversial extradition treaty with the u.s. this week drawn in the chaotic aftermath of nine eleven it allows washington to demand the extradition of any u.k. citizen regardless of criminal evidence let's artie's over bennett reports from london britain's patience is wearing thin. all take and no give that's the growing

feeling in britain's parliament against america's controversial extradition treaty it was signed in two thousand and three in the post nine eleven panic and makes it far easier for the us to take people from the u.k. than the other way around now forty five m.p.'s from the three main parties have crossed the political divide and joined forces they finally forced a debate and parliamentary vote on what they call an injustice was a mistake in the first christmas tree i think it was a mistake it's not a level playing field even with a partner like america we need to make sure that we of being equal and we are being fair to our citizens and that is not the case of the world and britain must present evidence for any extradition but america doesn't need to a long awaited independent inquiry recently ruled this relationship was balanced but the numbers suggest otherwise one hundred twenty three people have been surrendered to america under the treaty since two thousand and four only fifty four

have gone the other way america's ambassador to the u.k. has branded these figures myths and in accuracies but they were figures he's embassy refused to reveal he's even accused m.p.'s of willfully distorting the facts in the run up to this crunch vote in parliament that could shift the balance gary mckinnon a mainstay on america's extradition wish list he was arrested ten years ago after hacking into pentagon files he says he was merely searching for u.f.o.'s gary has asperger's syndrome and according to his mother should be tried in the u.k. on medical grounds but america's not giving up on one of their most wanted and so then people. you think it was in some of the widen it is so over the top they left him one is entering it three and a half years after the arrest. if gagne was this latest threat that wouldn't have been done there are nine cases currently fighting extradition to america richard

o'dwyer is the latest he's wanted on copyright charges for creating a search engine for pirated content it's not even considered a crime in the u.k. but at the moment that doesn't matter the us can still get their man a coalition government promised to change this while in opposition nails the chance to deliver either bennett r.t. london. a reminder of headlines is coming your way in just a couple of minutes with me here on that.