twenty six thousand strikes and no civilian casualties outrage greets nato is claims of a flawless libya campaign all as a new and just as bloody campaign unfolds against former supporters. freshly elected parliament has chosen its speaker the new state duma convenes for the first time two weeks after its election mass protests and calls for a recount. and a fresh route between britain and the e.u. brussels orders london to relax stringent benefit laws saying that foreign nationals in the u.k. must be as eligible for handouts as britons at themselves.

global news twenty four seven this is our life or of moscow. russia is urging nato to look into reports of a widespread civilian deaths in libya caused by the military's alliance seven month long bombing campaign the claims filed by rights groups contradict nato's assertion that twenty six thousand of its strikes did not cause any civilian casualties and the killing hasn't ended just because could death is dead and gone former rebels continue to take their stone out on the supporters of the topple the regime he warned you may find some of the images in his report disturbing. this is what it's like to look down in the face a group of men the young and old captured after the need or propped rebels overran

get off his hometown of sirte he was behind a camera delivers the verdict did you work for gadhafi did you. and the captives themselves seem doubts about what's coming next. scenes like these play now with a costly b. as the rebels assisted by western powers to liberate the country from gadhafi arbonne lodgings about he said district tendencies grow more and more outlandish by the day and that seems to justify any sort of treatment for his perceived loyalists in some places the violence is quite bad the town we looked out in was called. and the militias from the neighboring town of misrata are terrorizing the people of to where they accuse them of having fought for qaddafi of having committed atrocities . in his name this is one of the liberated tripoli's new landmarks a prison where moammar gadhafi was set to hold his political opponents with no

access to lawyers and no chance for a fair trial. but while the prisons new guards a very elaborate in their rating for also g.'s fear and hatred still reside in this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area in southern tripoli where more and more and gadhafi had strong support base prior to his fleeing the district also and as to the tourists present a scene of torture and arbitrary killings but while gadhafi is gone the human rights abuses still remain valid from this area are still disappearing without a trace of their families are too scared to talk about. this is probably the only place in libya or families for logic get off the supporters can turn to for how mohammed form peace and your earlier this year it's investigated the fate of those who disappeared in good office prisons he is now primarily dealing with

people who went missing under libya's new leadership it's usually mothers who come here and at first they're scared to tell me that this son or husband was with pick a daffy forces they usually say he was a civilian court in the crossfire but i tell them that i don't care which side he was on all i need is accurate information so that we can start searching. mohammad and his friends have been taking photos of unidentified bodies that have been popping up across lead beer in recent months this naturists are probably the relatives most realistic hope of finding closure but even after sifting through them many managed to retain hope like this man whose brother disappeared on the front lines of banjo. i hope he's in tunisia maybe his in hospital maybe he's lost his memory or has no way of contacting us. they say hope dies last and leave but

it's still alive even if many people aren't. artsy tripoli. meantime activists in syria say the country has seen some of his fiercest fighting since unrest began with over two hundred killed since monday the biggest number of casualties was reported in the syrian in the west northwest in a province that's where government forces allegedly used heavy i mean ition against anti regime fighters that's ahead of the arrival of an arab league advance team which is going to prepare a monitoring mission control. sara for three ports there are hopes the observers can present a clear picture of what's really going on in syria. and it came from the arab league is expected to arrive in the country that's the head of the mission expected to hit at the end of the month and the coolest mission. in the seemingly as both sides as they count as the death toll rising all the time in the six months

the other day that the main opposition city where we see the most of the fighting place yeah well see with that says the city where the fighting is much more concentrated and we went to travel today is pass' this is the key danger is that even the cars we were visiting with the struggling and you could hear the sounds of heavy gunfire breaking out across the city the government of course and still maintaining the fighting and minutes in the opposition saying that the government had been up making it crack down policy for a test is that i speak t. the foreign ministry spokesman the other day he was saying that what's needed now out like countries is that no one should be adding fuel to this fire and again he moved the dialogue to be pushed in the situation if the outside world neighboring country. wants to help so they get out of the crisis what we need is to help

and provide good offices to push the opposition who seeing. to say yes to the you're going to come out on one thing but to discuss everything north of who's in the world you know whatever discussion we had with the freedom of democracy here in the capital damascus these are. the signs that the economic sanctions to paste on the country. i am seeing. these are kicking. the today sanctions. around the city with a moment before the sanctions would put in place and not the kind. of putting right i mean time a u.s. based intelligence gathering has raised questions over the credibility of the

existing syrian narrative the company named strapped for says the country's opposition exaggerates and manipulates facts to win outside support from powers like the us dr paul craig roberts a former reagan administration official told r.t. that he believes washington isn't only backing the rebels diplomatically. the united states is involved in stirring up their own position and in or maybe it's a way to justify intervention on humanitarian terms they use the cover of the arab spring arab protests as they do in libya. so. these are not. spontaneous protest and certainly authoritarian state like cigarette syria you wouldn't find people in opposition able to ridgely themselves with arms with military weapons and this is not any longer just protest

it is an armed. rebellion and makes no sense it makes no sense for the syrians to the. opportunity for the country to be destroyed i mean it's like libya or iraq or afghanistan. you're watching r t it's good to have your company today and still to come for you at this hour in the program championing the rights of benefit tourists the e.u. targets of britons a tough hand out policies saying the u.k. is applied to dole out billions to non-citizens something london believes will only encourage them not to work. and attend the e.u. ten days now before the new year cutting down with ten of our correspondents looking back at this year's landmark stories i reminisce about events they witnessed first hand. witness. to

history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shaped two thousand and eleven. about ten minutes past the hour here in moscow russia is the sixth state duma the lower house of parliament has held its first session after a heated debate so to get out of this can from the ruling united russia party was chosen as the speaker it comes as protests continue against the election some two weeks ago sparked by allegations of vote rigging let's cross live now it was. over and over for more details on this hello to both of you starting with you first or so we know the name of the new speaker and now tell us how with the elected we believe there were some some fiery debate in the process it was very intense rhodri heated debates and raised voices could be heard before the voting and with two hundred eighty five voices for and eighty eight against a new new speaker of the state duma has been chosen that is as you said united

russia's candidate. well the government to stop the advance shuffle advance last week when mr not wishin until recently kremlin chief of staff stepped down and said that he will go to dumont and united russia put forward his candidacy for opposition parties however disagreed they have their own preferred candidates but there are mandates in the voting was not enough to outwait united russia apart from that opposition will have a louder voice in the new do month with united russia failing to secure constitutional majorities believe that the lower house of the russian parliament will again become a field of heated debate some of them we witnessed today and also now that united russia doesn't control the majority of the comedians fourteen out of nine twenty nine committees are now controlled by opposition parties it's also believe that the approach towards lawmaking will change however political analysts say that for

opposition that not only means a victory but actually poses a serious challenge if they're ready to take full responsibility for some crucial laws. the truth of the debate is changing because now their position we have said about half of the elite is so they will the old saw to commit itself to the way to the end and this is a significant victory for them at the same time a significant this because they will have to show that they're ready to share the responsibility for the state of the country that they're able to provide for constructive criticism for the policy. so we'll see how these two mobile function and. where the opposition is ready for the stars. on the tommy over to you know this dumas first session it goes ahead against the backdrop of a lot of protests so what can you tell us about that. will indeed here outside the state duma during its floor at the first plane there session of the newly elected

lower house of the russian parliament protesters gathered a members of opposition gathered over twenty people were arrested during and sanctions the protests who gathered here today that's according to opposition bloggers and also one of them are lexy now vilely who is quite well known for his harsh criticism of the russian government was released from custody today he was arrested during a similar and sanctions demonstration against the results of the parliamentary elections that took place on the fourth of december he spent fifteen days in custody and there's also been a number of peaceful demonstrations. some twenty thousand people gathered on the streets on one of the central squares of moscow demanding and in the omens of the results of the parliamentary election claiming the results were full supplied and the number of violations took place also that's

a russian president's meeting with eighty four did an investigation into the case and over fifty cases were far old. at. twenty one polling stations there is. a no however if. you take a look at the bigger picture results of the election are still valid violations it means one polling stations is a very small number out of tens of thousands throughout the country right out here and tell you not because of there and you're going to make a try but both live in central moscow thank you. now a quarter past the hour here the new year is just ten days away and we are starting our very own countdown with ten special reports on events that shaped two thousand and eleven i was looking back at major stories through the eyes of our t.v. correspondents who witnessed them for themselves and we start with an area that sorts fair share of breakthroughs and failures space projects consistently made it

into the headlines but there was much more that did not i thought he's peter all of it reveals. well one of the biggest landmarks the resort this year was the fiftieth anniversary of eureka first spaceflight just before one of the nasa astronauts went up there i was having to chat with him about what it actually meant to have that first flight by you daryn fifty years ago and he was saying really it changed us as a species we stopped being limited to our own planet we were able to go out and explore further of course a few years after guarin first month set foot on the moon. of mars five hundred project which came to an end this year was really something quite exciting it was great to be able to go in and have a look at it where they were when i'd seen it on television i was thinking wow this

is six guys in a shed and then when i actually went to where the spacecraft was i realized it was six guys in a very very small shed for five hundred twenty days i mean doing them a bit of a disservice saying that they're in a show in a shed but when you see the pictures of the wood paneling and everything very small confined space that they were in such a long time one year into their voyage the mars five hundred team currently simulating never. however it will be another five months before this can be opened and they can step back to normality it was nice on the day i remember the day when they came out. the look on their faces when the door opened the look on the very very pale faces of course you have to realize these guys haven't seen sunlight for such a long time. they were ecstatic to have come out of there. and it really was i mean whether scientifically it ends up being the building block or the the first

step towards the first step i think it was referred to by the organizers towards going to. people too. well looking back on twenty eleven one of the things that really is the crash of that progress it wasn't just the module itself. the late seventy's it was the fact that this was carried on. the only way we have now getting people into space. the progress module that was launched at the end of carrying food and supplies for the international space station at the time we were hearing. from the guys on the space station those food and supplies have been for saying no this is fine it's ok i remember saying look these guys go through extensive training they doing they'll be fine. who was actually the mission commander who was up there when he returned

from his time in space he was telling me that yeah they were genuinely a little bit worried that. they were going to run out of food they didn't know if they were going to be able to be brought back down to earth before that in the beginning twenty twelve. people put themselves through evidence thankfully. that we've seen today seen this year. didn't result in. any major problems on. the big. show in the perseverance of these people who risked their lives going into space. as a job they do it. just the first reports of special series of what happened two thousand and eleven stay with us for more about or catch more of them on our web site. for now though let's check

out some other international headlines for you making news this hour in the world thousands of checks. taking part in a perception to pay last respects to the country's late president. whose body has been carried to prague castle where it will remain on display until a funeral is held on friday. died this sunday at the age of seventy five causing the government to declare three days of national mourning. egyptians are voting in runoffs in the second round of parliamentary elections the staggered ballot is to elect the first government since former president hosni mubarak was ousted in february a last will be held next month with the islamist muslim brotherhood thought to be in the lead. the voting comes after five days of violent clashes which saw at least . one thousand to the streets calling for an immediate. optimist in south korea have launched

a giant balloons carrying tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets to his north and they contain slogans and messages opposing the hereditary transfer of power in pyongyang this comes off of the death of north korean leader kim jong il who is said to be succeeded by his youngest son today are people of values this is the base to ask his guests if the regime in the secretive communist state will be transformed. the north koreans are worried that the outside world will try to take advantage of this transition period so they're going to be on the defensive and they're going to try to project strength and i don't think that it's going to generate big changes in terms of their foreign policy to engage the u.s. or others i also think we sort of the u.s. lost an opportunity here because of a policy of strategic patience we really weren't engaged north korea in the last year other than these most recent food talks so the young kim doesn't have a legacy that he can say look i'm following my father's legacy and we're going to

go and do all this stuff with the international community kim jong il could do that . now twenty one minutes past the hour here in moscow a new conflict has erupted between britain and the e.u. this time over the treatment of so-called benefit tourists brussels has given london an ultimatum to relax benefit laws saying the country must dole out had asked to anyone who asks for them but as r.t. as i have about it reports of britain's a new spirit of non-cooperation may you succeed in complicating the matter. homeless and jobless this man's too embarrassed to be identified he came to britain from poland five years ago hoping to live a dream but the realities been a nightmare he claims the u.k.'s welfare state hasn't been fair on him.

i'm a citizen of the european union five years ago i decided to discount it will be my home didn't come here to claim benefits i came here to work. david's what the government fears is a benefit tourist here to take and not to give back english is still a struggle and the state says he doesn't qualify for its handouts a serious accident eighteen months ago put him out of work and he soon went bankrupt he's been living on the street ever since but still won't go back to poland. i thought this was a friendly country because only if it needs you and you work for it you can treat could give me something but it doesn't need me i never thought it would be like this this is not a paradise. foreign nationals are eligible for welfare once they've lived here for over three months but they must convince the or priorities they are here to work

and support themselves but the e.u. is ordering britain to relax those rules claiming they discriminate unfairly it wants to allow foreign nationals to get state handouts as soon as they arrive in the u.k. it's extraordinary for the european union to say that in britain where north are able to do an eligibility test before handing someone benefit you know first of all it's our money secondly it was in our manifesto that we were going to bring in these sorts of changes it simply outrageous that an elected officials in brussels can prevent us from bringing about the reforms that we said we were going to do when we were voted into office the e.u. commission is refusing to speak to us but it hasn't been shy in issuing britain with an ultimatum. it says the right to reside test foreigners must pass to claim benefits is too tough and it's given the government until the end of this month to change that otherwise it will see britain's refusing to budge otherwise it

claims it will have to pay out two and a half billion pounds to those who work but anything back in the part of the british welfare state exists to benefit british people. this was very clear in the regional welfare state back in the one thousand forces which had contributed principle you contributed and you benefited if you didn't contribute you weren't eligible forty percent of migrants from eastern and central europe most of those on eligible for welfare already some are trying their luck and no doubt more will the u.k. is forced to sweeten the deal either when it r.t. london. just about to turn twenty five minutes past the hour here in moscow you with r.t. time now for dimitri the business. thank you rory hopes for a quick and long lasting gas conflict between ukraine and russia vanished the country's failed to reach an agreement during high profile overnight talks however

they say this will not affect the transit of russian gas to year ukraine is struggling to persuade russia to cut the price for exams the supplies saying the burden is too big for the country's troubled economy here didn't even manage the pain of embers bill itself and borrowed half a billion dollars from russia's gazprom bank in one thousand semen from russia's national energy security fund says another gas war is unlikely as the existing contract runs for another seven years. but general sellers and i was the last our last guess what we have no quantity in general sales of mine it was the main reason for the you guess what now we have corporate means that according to the law we think we can award serious quantity that is why we can spend new year without any problems. similar to the markets the south will is gaining for a third day however it's lost some of its steam this is on signs that the u.s.

economy could be spared a recession and amid growing pressure on iran to curtail its nuclear program lights we discourage the trading up to over ninety seven and a half dollars per barrel brant is at almost one hundred seven dollars. so going to europe and the stock markets there are flat to positive for the footsie and the dax are gaining by just a notch pretty much this hour that's the second day for german stocks of growth amid speculation that european central bank has supported euro banks with cheap funding helping them whether the fallout from the storm and debt crisis. and then rush over of the r.g.s. in the my six are declining after a positive assertion on tuesday my six is now one percent lower blue chips are mostly down the same. v t b one of the biggest losers is shedding almost two and a half percent oil major role staff to school so though displaying high oil prices chuck make it come as it is better than the market if you can say that about

a company declining home four percent it plans to increase its sales by nine percent next year mark rubenstein that i've seen much of all expects no significant movements in stocks this week. russian market has underperformed global markets a significant of the past three weeks. by by a large margin of will probably continue to observe the political risk for him present and perhaps even increasing as we get closer to the weekend. and we have another manifestation scheduled to take place in moscow so i think many investors will want to take. a wait and see approach anticipate or know that so i don't expect significant moves in the russian market before the end of the week. and more details have emerged about the possible sale of russia's largest airport on monday out of a lot of us newspaper reports the owners want four to five billion dollars for one hundred percent of the shares of the moscow album unnamed sources claim the

financial consortium alpha group and that's one group are now over and so my holdings are the most likely potential buyers however they are these companies are not ready to stump up the full amount being asked that it was reported that goldman sachs was retained to seal the deal. or i'm more business news on a website that's already to come forward slash business and i'll be back in fifty five minutes time with.

witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . what's really happening to the global economy.