president medvedev promises russia's opposition greater influence and stressed authorities will fully investigate all claims of regularities in the recent parliamentary vote. russia's foreign minister alas is out of the west for turning a blind eye to violence committed by syrian anti-government forces while putting extra pressure on the assad regime. a gunman goes on a rampage in the building the city of leeds is leaving at least four dead and more than one hundred twenty injured after tossing a hand grenades and shooting the crowds of christmas shoppers in one of the city's main square. black water seeps back into iraq now operating under a new name the u.s. based military contractors accused of killing civilians are turning to the country as american troops finalize their departure.

six am in moscow a good to have you with us here on our team our top story this hour russian president dmitri medvedev has pledged greater influence to the country's opposition the move comes in the wake of widespread protests after reports of violations during the country's parliamentary vote for more we had the fate of the pools addressing the concerns of a the election violations he once again reiterated that old these claims are going to be fully investigated no you'll say heads into looking about the plight of the opposition to going to have to play in the medium is saying that they should have the best say in the team a committee of course we had all through the elections a united russia. parliament she majority that teeth as majority say. about the military they will have to what much place with the opposition in the feats. to boston and decisions that compromises will need to be made of course all

of this coming on the back tens of thousands of people taking to the streets over the weekend to have their political voices heard amongst other things demanded a rerun but they call them until elections now so it's already turning some oats to the presidential election season we happening in march and we've seen russian billionaire mikhail prokhorov throwing his hat into the ring he announced his decision to run somewhat surprising he's been known in the polls much more his other proceeds which of course being russia's third richest man that is not money and metals and. he's also the i know of an american basketball to name for his exploits as rush's most eligible bachelor but is the political fail that he's been looking to play at the moment he was leading right cause in the some of the he quit that quite visibly in september we're seeing him now planning to return to the

political spin now he's. had his spokesman of his company announced that he has a plan to buy media a major media holding here in russia. again a very interesting the times decision because thomas sound has seen a lot of controversy surrounding it today also its decision to fire it's one of the chief editor of the magazine now they were fired for publishing a pitch that depicted and seen language that was related to the parliamentary elections firing his cool is a huge amount of anger and coleman to a amongst journalist inside and outside of russia but nonetheless apologize for the pitch of being published but that ongoing at the moment that's being delayed it's not raising some eyebrows certainly but he said things that certainly keeping life in this post-election political debate. received word from commerce press service

denying any possibility of selling the publishing house will wait and see how much response to the decision. turning to syria russia's foreign minister has accused the west of putting pressure on the assad regime while ignoring crimes committed by armed anti-government groups sergey lavrov also said the west assessment of the situation in syria is falling short of reflecting the reality on the ground zero piskun all of housman. foreign minister lavrov slams the west for what it says is a one sided approach by some western states to the situation in syria he says that instead of looking for ways to bring peace to the country more pressure is being applied on the syrian authorities while the atrocities committed by some of the problem western groups within the syrian opposition are being ignored and these groups use hostile and aggressive tactics which only rock the boat and worsen the crisis even further. to the present our partners who are calling on us to be

decisive don't want to condemn violence committed stream is groups which have become increasingly active in syria in the city of homes several blocks have been occupied by militants they regularly attack army posts as well as administrative buildings hospitals schools police patrols and public transport goods i think there's no doubt that their goal is to brasilia a humanitarian crisis should have an excuse to coup from outside intervention. so you have an offer added to that presenting these hostilities as the syrian opposition's efforts to gain democracy by some western states is an inadequate approach at the moment he stressed that the libyan scenario cannot be repeated in syria and reminded that russia and china are putting forward their draft resolution on syria to the un security council which condemns the violence but does not give way for any foreign military intervention in the country and said that accusing

russia of hampering the work of the un security council in these conditions is immoral elbow foreign ministers including of course the i was serious with algeria being one of the keep whereas in the arab league have also called for syrian authorities to monitors from the organizations to enter the country see what's going on there on the spot and actually said you are also said that. moscow's wanted then monitors from the bric countries could also join them meaning brazil russia india and china of course peace activist dr mara salumi says the main goal of the u.s. and its allies may be to establish a more pro western regime in syria. i give a shit of the situation is only one side the so far which is the being pressured by the west and the nato alliance actually towards the city in the sovereignty and their own independence no that is he was under huge pressure by international

organizations under the umbrella of the united nations and the european union and the united states for sure and in foreign policy so far has being download i mean they are downloading all their efforts in order to put down the regime as soon as possible where their own strategic interests will be implemented through another that they are planning to take over after bashar al assad which is the president of the current republic of syria will be over stood by the oppositionists inside syria on know the whole situation i believe it has not been so for it through peaceful dialogue as a as i am an ambassador for peace i urge all parties inside syria to have a certain dialogue but it seems that the west and specifically the european union and the united states have been concentrating on the position that there is no dialogue with such a president. stay with us here on r t still to come this hour crowds of the former

ukrainian prime minister supporters have stormed the courthouse where yulia timoshenko seven year jail term for abuse of power is being appealed plus a russian convoy bringing humanitarian aid bound for kosovo serbs stuck at the border after being blocked by police from moving further into northern kosovo. but first in the belgian city of li has at least for peace. will have been killed more than one hundred twenty injured in a gun and grenade attack police say the gunman nordine moranis did either by his own hand or by accident officials were quick to reload terrorism saying our army had a history of firearms offenses and drug abuse or teased us are so he has more from brussels as police continue to investigate the matter details are becoming clearer so what it what happened is at around twelve thirty afternoon here in belgium that's about eighty kilometers from brussels in the crowded city center gunmen had

thrown about three days into a crowd and also opened fire at those people and it's it was reported that he also had more grenades on him now the prosecutor has confirmed that this man has this served time in jail for crimes related to what god said drugs and sexual abuse and he was on his way for police questioning when he launched the attack and among the dead include the gunmen a fifteen year old boy a seventeen year old girl and an elderly woman and of course there were dozens injured the those numbers continue to change in a short. song now what this terrorism has been ruled out of this incident but of course any such attack of this nature in the city center in an urban area is thinkable unimaginable for people and it does draw memories of that recent attack in norway where a bomb explosions went off in the capital and although then a gunman had gone on a shooting spree on the island of utah where there were students gathering for a political meeting there were several dozens killed in this incident so of course

such an attack of this kind of this scale has rocked the country and of course has taken people off guard member to log on to our g dot com for more stories comment at alice's here's what's online for you right now farewell to the stars and stripes more americans than ever moving abroad for work and the study r.t.e. investigates plus. they could change diapers and look good in a dress the mrs russia. reveals what some might call the dream wife all that and more a click away on our web site. russian trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for serbs in kosovo have been blocked on the checkpoint by e.u. forces of our own garden it has more. humanitarian convoys have become

a little bit of a political hot potato and the crisis underneath seems to be growing it set off for a week ago doesn't carry anything controversial just basic necessity to which i needed full. credit both of course are struggling through the coffee mug with blockades and everything else i don't pay until it seemed to reach the board of the flooring at which point it was a parody of the truck in the corner let through but then the whole commerce stopped and then we received information that apparently you like rich and your mission which is man made me buy things which represent their interests made me want to see you at school because they're really into that at the end of the road i did look something which is unacceptable to the floor from the point of an attempt once again to try and you can bet if it's a back up the official i'm definitely interested in territory and delay this

information or truth lead from the absolute right now there will be no compromise what's called a very it will be. simply the structure will be turned back and we'll have to get older i'd like to refer us troops finally due to withdraw from iraq by december thirty first nearly nine years since the start of the war at a white house meeting with iraq's prime minister a president obama says the troops are leaving a sovereign and self-reliant iraq well it's the end of america's affairs. climate in the country the notorious military contractor blackwater may be set to return the company's been accused of killing iraqi civilians now rebranded itself as a cademy in an attempt to lose its mercenary image artie's sean thomas has more from baghdad. as u.s. troops leave iraq and official operations and here in the country this opens the door for a private contractors to come in to help rebuild the infrastructure companies construction companies all of those companies are going to need their own security

as well and one of the companies that wants a piece of that pie who is well known a controversial name blackwater they are trying to come back under a different name known as academy right of course is infamous for the two thousand and seven massacre at resource square known as the resource square massacre where seven hundred civilians were killed after this incident the iraqi government suspended their business license to do business in the country of iraq after this the tried to reinvent themselves and come back under the guise of x. services and now it looks like the company is trying to reinvent themselves again so that they can get a piece of this contracting by this time under the name of academy of the company ted right in an interview to wired magazine in december that said the following and i quote as remake changes and they take root and we convince everyone that they are real the real proof of the putting is convincing that the government of iraq and of

the us government to let us do business in iraq the new c.e.o. is also promising accountability and openness policy so that the government of iraq and the people can know what the company is doing now let me give you one example as to the types of contracts that this new account of the company is interested in the. security cooperation is expected to to have. a hundred military personnel stay back to help train iraqi special forces and the iraqi military in addition to these are two hundred military personnel there's seven hundred contractors civilian contractors are expected to stay as well throughout training the iraqi military academy once a little bit of that by it is expected but beyond this it is expected that all of these companies coming into the country as the u.s. pulls out they're going to need their own security services as well and academy wants to make sure that they get in on the ground floor as the u.s.

troops leave of course interesting developments information company a lot rather trying to come back to iraq after having been expelled in two thousand and seven after questionable practices we'll keep you up to date as more information becomes available in baghdad sean thomas r.t. . dr joseph it's a knock as from the security and intelligence studies program tells our team about the company's future and its checkered past. i cademy represents a long term trend a very trend in american security and military areas in which we see the privatization of all of these organizations or agencies and what we seeing now basically is a corporate is a shadow privatization of american military and security services and that's exactly what it represents it's got in trouble several times seen iraq. incidentally the new square massacre that killed seventeen iraqi civilians and of course

a constant. constant cases of smuggling of weapons. being caught several times by the state department for instance a little later we hear from a former indian ambassador to iraq and the author of the book the ultimate prize he thinks that the u.s. doesn't plan a complete pullout from the middle east country full interview coming your way in a little bit but here's a quick preview. i don't consider this as an american withdrawal i think is just shuffling of the pack if you would grow from iraq completely. you believe this why us going in the hands of a shiite led government which means we've been on to come to this the americans have known. withdrawing the troops but at the same time strengthening the pollution in iraq now the u.s. embassy in iraq is going to be almost twenty thousand strong it's going to have to . be called some offices like training training of troops etc who will be. basically americans who would be military men but working for the u.s.

embassy by agreeing to withdraw troops has put the agreement. in a way coming back building civilian clothes and in fact i don't see any lessening of american influence as far as iraq is concerned. the full interview coming up in about seven minutes first though hundreds of protesters have been storming ukraine's appeals court that's where the country's former prime minister is conviction for abuse of power is being challenged yulia timoshenko is trying to avoid spending seven years in jail but couldn't be president court due to poor health so the hearings were postponed till wednesday artie's alexei are chefs he has more the fate of ukraine so a prime minister still remains in the shadows because we understand according to her lawyers that according to the iranian law the appeal decision the decision on her appeal cannot be taken without due to

a psycho herself presence in the court room and she is not here and there's also a great deal of control over c. on that story as well so some sources say that she has a very serious blood disease now the sources say that she has a ruptured spine and she cannot walk by herself that's why she was not delivered to the court building as of today on the other hand. the medical crew inside the detention center report that her condition is not as severe as it's been told and that in fact she can and she's able. so it's on this court session so it's a mystery why she was not delivered to the court building as of today now. it's being convicted to seven years in prison for abusing her power during when she signed gas deals with russia in two thousand and nine but even if the appeals court brings a positive decision on her appeal she would not be set free media the because the stars you understand there's almost a dozen other charges against her this is only the first day of the appeal hearing and definitely this is not the last protest we'll be seeing over the next few weeks

or even possibly months as some experts predict canada has pulled out of the one nine hundred ninety seven anti global warming kyoto protocol saying the treaties not working the departure comes a day after further climate talks in south africa lead to a new agreement set to replace kyoto by two thousand and fifteen piers corbyn the founder of the weather action foundation climate change skeptics says canada is doing the right thing. it is a complete waste of time it's a waste of public money it's. a gravy train for so-called saw and looking into things which don't exist and of course with governments to impose taxation and oil companies to increase oil prices on the back of. increasing energy prices which is that they demanded by the global warming just nonsense lobby are don't believe in manmade climate change because there is no evidence for it. in fact carbon dioxide is control boy will temperatures rather than the other way around it has zero effect on repeat zero effect no effect whatsoever they have no evidence for they

life and only evidence against so frankly i'm glad that canada left the protocol process and i hope it heralds the collapse of the whole thing take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe tunisia's new president for suki has been sworn in and now leads a transitional government becoming the country's first leader after a popular. uprising almost a year ago the long time where the president. ben ali was ousted from power after weeks of public protests election of the interim leader follows approval over the weekend of temporary bylaws to guide the country until it adopts a new constitution. footage has emerged from china of a group of bystanders lifting a car to free a young woman who'd been run over by the vehicle and trapped underneath security video shows the five year old sitting in the street just before the car drove over her sixteen people work together to pull the child to safety. a gunman in italy's

opened fire in a street market in florence killing two senegalese and wounding three other immigrants he till later turned the gun on himself before police arrived the attacker was identified as a right wing activist who took part in many racist marches italy's president has called the killing barbaric and said the country should fight all forms of intolerance. and scientists say they've found evidence that the elusive higgs bo's'n particle may actually exist also called the god particle that could explain why atoms have mass and may help complete a puzzle about the universe that's been nagging science for decades the quest to find it was one of the reasons for building this with space large hadron collider costing ten billion dollars the l h c is the biggest most expensive machine ever built. it's the hours news will be back with a recap of our top stories in ten minutes but first despite the u.s. military withdrawal from iraq washington is still preparing plans to control the

country's rich oil reserves according to ranjit singh kala india's former ambassador to iraq the interview coming up. president obama has announced the united states will definitively end the war in iraq at the end of this month but as the united states attempts to get the military

personnel and contractors out of the country questions still remain about the implications of this decision for security in the region joining me to help discuss this is the former indian ambassador to iraq and the author of the book the ultimate prize saying kala things so much for joining me first of all i want to ask you about the recent terrorist attacks in iraq obviously there have been quite a few in the past few years and they've claimed hundreds of iraqi citizens lives do you think there is still a role for the united states in iraq when the americans walked in good not to have done anything but to introduce some semblance of democracy otherwise what was the reason the going in and once they went in and they decided to use some semblance of the motor city it was going to be a shiite led government. and because it was a government it has very strong links with its core religious in iran

and therefore the main aim which i should say was sure that the oil the vast oil wealth of iraq remains available would be in jeopardy and i think that is basically the present dilemma if you would draw from iraq completely you leave this why us. in the hands of a shiite led government which very close links with iran and therefore it upsets the political balance as far as the middle east is concerned so to that extent the to come to this the americans have now thought of withdrawing the troops but at the same time strengthening their position in iraq now the u.s. embassy in iraq is going to be about almost twenty thousand strong it's going to have numerous what they call sub offices like training training of troops

etc who will be what we call basically americans who would be basically military men but working for the u.s. embassy similarly there will be a consulate in basra they will be a consulate in. good cook there would be a consulate even further north and each one of these consulates is about a thousand strong it will perhaps be the largest u.s. embassy anywhere in the world i mean normal embassies are usually between thirty to forty maybe if it's a very big embassy perhaps one hundred strong but twenty thousand strong it's means that they're going to be lots of other people who are going to be still in iraq and you sort of just spoke about these sectarian issues within iraq one and if the united states technically leaves the country how do you think the iraqi government will be able to stop these sectarian divisions into becoming a full fledged civil war it's going to be extremely difficult because if you see

the communities of iraq as they existed most of the military in pre us invasion iraq was sunni dominated most of the officers were sunni. the shirts were basically foot soldiers they had no basic military training as such and therefore because it was a similar government they were able to keep them in check it was basically by false alarms that people were kept were to call in check and of course the strong arm methods of every ruler who has been there whether it was or even earlier most of them were using very tough methods to keep. the population in check no whether the new government that is the shiite led government will be able to equally dick strong on message to control be what they called situation is a bit doubtful because frankly i don't think they have the experience to be able to

run a country like iraq i foresee sectarian violence perhaps may not be of the scale that it is no but may have little more than what is presently going on and you mentioned the united states troops going to crawl way out how do. i think the arab gulf countries are going to react to that are they going to welcome the americans i don't think so because i don't see i don't see this. actually i think it's just shuffle of the cards so as to speak because the americans not going very far they're just going to quit which is next door and you can always come back because the bases will be kept intact and as i mentioned there's a twenty thousand strong u.s. embassy most of the stuff except i would always be there and secondly they have made sure that there is no law the air force in fact you find that there is hardly perhaps not even less than they don't even have five planes to fly around so they

don't control the airspace the airspace over to be controlled by the americans. which means that you can reinforce whenever you want how you want and you can also prevent anybody is from coming in perhaps even if the say the iranians were to decide the american air force would be available make sure that they don't cross over so i don't see i don't consider this an american withdrawal i think it's just a reshuffling of the pack and i want to thank you so much for your time thank you. wealthy british style.

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