arab league observers and their syria with russia hoping the peacemakers can help stem the violence and stabilize the troubled country before a foreign military intervention. by goes on more u.s. soldiers are losing their lives to suicide than enemy bullets causing some veterans to warn young people not to enlist. and british human rights groups fight for a no spies zone in the world's most surveilled country calling in oxford city council not to record what's being said in taxis. in our business desk grocer is pushing ahead with its first hybrid car the b.o.'s local car makers are

under pressure to match their foreign competitors but have more in our business both in britain that. it is not i am and the russian capital you're watching r t welcome to the program arab league observers are in syria with the aim of helping to stabilize the conflict torn country they'll have a big job as reports of continuing violence suggest hundreds of people have been killed in just the last few days moscow's hoping the arab league can help stem the bloodshed without the need for outside military interference already sarah ferguson reports. well the advanced arab league team is now in damascus they have of course to pave the way for the observer mission that is expected at the end of the month they're going to be looking at the government's promises to implement that peace

plan now of course many people here in the country extremely skeptical about whether or not any real change is going to come from that arab league observers mission entering here a big concern is whether they're going to be able to cover enough ground to get to the places where the coltan trade to conflict is actually happening that's been a real problem here in the country was we've been here for the past week actually getting to these areas accessing these people that are on the ground where the armed conflict is breaking out has proven extremely difficult but getting accurate information and verifying it full stop has been a major challenge we visited the city of homs and there you can hear the gunfire ringing out in the distance but ahead of the arab league team arriving here in the country we've heard very harrowing reports of the violence breaking out at civilians us in fact they seemed if anything to being creasing the force of getting

around two hundred people having been killed in the past few days and as the conflict continues what we are seeing is this becoming of both sides seemingly increasingly armed increasingly bloody certainly that team of observers are really going to have their work cut out for the everyone is going to be very much are you paying this some form of change can now be a vote about that this is going to be an important step in the right direction but do remember it is of course just one step in many many more that are going to need to be taken before you see the situation here in syria coming down. to first reporting there will syria state news agency says over two thousand members of the security forces have been killed since unrest began and a man. because claims recent un human rights reports alleging a brutal government crackdown are not the whole story activists about adman says the western media is storing the picture of the real situation to help increase

public support for war against the country what we see hear about these atrocities five to house the. deaths here and the so-called massacres none of these numbers are confirmed they are actually given and if you look at the media they are actually telling you that they are getting their information from the. rebel army but they are not getting it from inside the country but of course when you look at the mainstream media at least here in the united states they are just repeating those numbers now in our four hour news websites we have been getting information from syria and these are not necessarily the supporters of assad these are people who are providing information to us they are there they are on the ground and been be run these stories nobody picks them up except a handful of international news outlets because it does not conform to what the group reporting here in the united states this is basically a makeup of

a psychological warfare first of all the decision on syria was made a years ago even as the preparations began and this is. the border there there are nato air base there injured airbase in may two thousand and eleven so they have the decision they have had that this edition they have been preparing for an actual war and then they begin the propaganda and the psychological warfare by trying to get the public support for an unwarranted war and that's the heat papa c.e.o. of the us foreign policy you're looking at live playing right in front of you. sibel edmonds founder of the national security a whistleblowers coalition talking to us from washington. a wave of synchronized bombings rocked the iraqi capital on thursday causing more uncertainty about the

ability of the authorities to ensure security and also threatens to make the political faultiness in the country even wider almost twenty separate blasts ripped through the city ranging from car bombs to hidden explosives seventy two people are confirmed dead and over two hundred injured the attacks took place a few days after the withdrawal of them american troops from the country u.s. leaders insist they left behind a stable nation nine years after launching an invasion jeremy corbyn british labor m.p. and member of the stop the war coalition it's a very different view of. what's been achieved has been large number of deaths a huge amount of profits for arms companies a lot of oil contracts signed by western oil companies and a lot of chaos on the streets and a huge level of private mercenary security forces under the biggest u.s. embassy the world is overseeing it doesn't look to me it was really complete withdrawal it looks to me as though there is a security presence left behind in order to protect the government that has been so

happy to do business with the west this could play out into something extremely nasty over a long period it does require a democratic coming in the whole country and it does require the participation of all those political forces in that outcome and that clearly is not happening at the present time the war was an attack on a sovereign state it was a war for regime change were in the case of britain the british parliament was told it was sold to war for disarmament of the non-existent weapons of mass destruction and the damages in iraq in the region and the civil liberties of everybody in every one of the participating countries absolutely huge. but damage done to the american soldiers who served in iraq and other countries is also uncountable even when the guns fall silent and cease fires are agreed wars live on in the minds of the man and women who fought a killer stocks and that is more deadly than the enemies they once face such as liz wahl reports. being in this environment is killing

us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants fortunately and have is the demographic in the united states that kills itself pretty much more than any other out there for the second year in a row more soldiers killed themselves than were killed in combat four hundred sixty eight soldiers took their own lives in two thousand and ten and even off the battlefield suicide rates continue to soar matha sure rose in afghanistan war veteran turn anti-war activists we come home feeling terrible despicable about what we did and what we saw sure roe is one of thousands returning from deployment feeling detached and conflicted the laws of decency don't apply to soldiers in combat and when you go back to having to apply those lost yourself all the time. you know that that for many you know needs either to the grave or to jail an

average of eighteen veterans per day commit suicide and many more attempted last year twenty percent of the thirty thousand american suicides was a soldier or better and it kind of cumulated in. disaster. in that you really start to wonder if you're ever going to be who you were again dr jan kemp says many soldiers come back feeling disconnected from the world in which they once lived then all of a sudden they're there back things happened in their families while they were gone the situation they can come back to is not often the same one that they left in fact many come back to bleak situations a quarter of the homeless in america are military veterans the unemployment rate among vets hovers over twelve percent meanwhile campaign such as army strong glorify life as a soldier and aim to entice america's young men and women. to enlist.

or shooting is that the military is to advertise since retiring from the army sharon has been committed to showing students the other side of the army experience the side recruiters fail to show it's all part of the we are not your soldiers tour his message is clear don't don't become one of us. and he hopes that message will prevent students from turning into a statistic from washington lismore hearts. and still had r t is sean thomas remember is a plane crash that wiped out the entire jaroslav lokomotiv hockey team he looks back at the tragedy in our special series on the last twelve months. there was anger there was frustration there was sadness there were tears. and

the outpouring of support from everyone in the town coming to place flowers and pictures and jerseys and stuffed animals and light candles in front of the stadium where the locomotive practiced it was just amazing to see such an outpouring of support. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . turkey has hold a diplomatic and economic ties with france after the lower house of the french parliament passed a law making it a crime to deny the genocide of armenians in turkey in the early twentieth century if approved by the senate the founders could face a year in prison and a fine of forty five thousand euros hundreds of french terms have been protesting in front of the national assembly in paris more than fifteen countries have recognized the slaughter of around one and

a half million armenians but turkey denies the genocide saying it's up to an international committee of historians to decide what really happened here professor of political science at parris west university thinks france's move is just a way of scoring political points. first of all you have to realize that it's a build good through the lower house. and then it has to go to the senate most probably it would not go to the senate before the presidential election and maybe it would die out you know. so little political gain least played by various political parties. there is historical debate genocide is not being done there was a genocide and there's also the political games being played by various parties to get the armenian vote in the french elections every nation has to investigate its try and see the person but establish an historical truth is the work of the story and it is not something that should be done and established by law they rather

a set for a ride in oxford taxis that is if the local authorities have their way and install audio surveillance and every cab in the british city privacy activists are fighting them tooth and nail claiming people's rights will be violated in a court in another city has sent its own message by rejecting similar security surveillance there are just laura smith reports. in oxford surveillance cameras everywhere and now in a city council scheme taxis will become the latest targets of state bugging operations over the next few years license caps will be required to install equipment monitoring both driver and passenger it's a fact of life in towns and cities across the u.k. that you'll being watched wherever you go on the high street in shops on public transport the surveillance along this stretch of street will only record images but

the systems in taxis will record sound to effectively eavesdropping on the conversations of private citizens buses already have and sound recording but aimed only at the driver taxi passengers will be recorded too and some who fear for their security later at night are reassured others see it as a staggering invasion of privacy i think is good idea i think it will make people feel a bit safer it's amazing and pretty same advice you have to talk in taxi just like chatty friends you know be going to. put a lot of pressure on people who behave. the ordinary innocent persian. i think there are enough surveillance camera in oxford and also i think it's quite awkward to have a video camera and everything in a taxi could we don't expect it to be taped or you know to have to be cautious

about what you say day and night recording will stop when the car engine switched on and and thirty minutes after it's turned off the council says footage will only be available to police for ongoing investigations i don't believe that it will be this let's remember this is not someone's front room this is not somebody bedroom this is the back of a taxi. driver in the front seat who will be able to overhear any conversation that you were having with the passenger side previously campaigners on the other hand can't understand how the council can justify this and accuse them of refusing to hand over statistics on taxi related crime big brother watch says the move is unjustified intrusive. threats which exist that requires them to record not just video but also the conversations of passengers we simply don't

accept that the first is greater toward every person to be recorded indiscriminately for example a panic button system. treats everybody as potential criminals. treating everybody as. drivers will have to fork out four hundred pounds that's six hundred dollars to pay for the equipment themselves and while the council says it has the support of cappy many at this local firm object to the blanket approach if people used. is the going to be. family and friends. well the puzzle. whoa that is you know for me. we want to. well. but city council doesn't think it's going to have any trouble pushing

this measure through but previously campaign is see it differently in that complaint with an independent data protection body to try and stop what they see as the further creeping encroachments of the state's prying eyes and is into innocent people's lives nora smith books but. ok we're stories for you on our website r.t. dot com and here's what's on the line for you there. from a ship loaded with american missiles disguised as fireworks gets busted and finished poured with a shipment believed to be our route to u.s. ally south korea. and president medvedev outlines democratic reforms proposing direct elections for regional heads and simple registration all political parties and his annual state of the union address watch the entire speech and get expert analysis at our problem plus what some of our best videos on our you tube channel.

is. now is take a look at some other stories from around the world and pentagon says mistakes led to nato airstrikes in northern pakistan to kill twenty four soldiers every pore by the u.s. government said the alliance was retail hate and against what it saw it was an insurgent attack the us blamed the incident on poor coordination with pakistani border forces the attack in of amber apply. significant strain on relations between washington and islamabad causing the pakistani government to close the border routes into neighboring afghanistan. rival palestinian factions have

made a significant step towards a reconciliation with the announcement hamas will join the palestinian liberation organization hamas and fatah also agree to hold an election next year to create a single government for both the west bank and gaza the breach between the two groups has been an obstacle to peacemaking efforts with israel hamas took power in gaza in two thousand and seven leaving palestinian president mahmoud abbas to govern only the west bank. that hearing on u.s. soldier bradley manning accused of causing the biggest national security leak in history has adjourned to decide whether the nineteen year old private well face court martial matt is charged with stealing hundreds of classified documents and handing them over to whistleblower website we can leaks the soldiers the fans accuse the american government of failing an emotionally troubled man and asked for a reduced thirty year prison sentence. in the u.s.

republican leaders have caved in on president obama's demands to extend a payroll tax cut members of the republican led house of representatives have previously refused to vote on the extension the cut will save around a thousand dollars a year for the average u.s. pay packet ambra new jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers will also now avoid a significant hit to their paychecks in january. our team is looking back at some of the major events of twenty eleven and today we remember the fatal plane crash that took the lives of the entire jaroslava locomotive hockey team in russia sean thomas talks about the grief and sorrow he witnessed while covering the tragedy in the team's hometown.

you were hearing it on the radio in fact on the way to work they were there were listening to it and everybody was it was just. this was much bigger than it was much bigger. as you got to. the personal connection. to the team. there was anger there was frustration there was sadness there were tears. and the outpouring of support from everyone in the place flowers and pictures and jerseys and stuffed animals and light candles in front of the stadium where the locomotive practiced it was just amazing to see such an outpouring of support.

every season. scene when it was pouring down rain it was in the middle of the day my classes were just. thousands of people came. as soon as we finished our live shot we saw this. walking with two of his friends in this moment of shock in this very very. very special that he shared some of his feelings and his thoughts with us in a time when he was just processing what was going on. the entire community rallied around this team and speaking to the individual members of the community the people who really. i felt like they knew every single one of these players. it's the most serious loss of my life like losing family. they were like family

they all had something to say and they all internalized this loss. that final day inside the stadium the coffins were lined up with flowers and one by one there is a procession of people including the prime minister vladimir putin who came to pay his respects. the graphic images in covering this story there's images of the plane still on fire images of them pulling the bodies from the actual crash site one of the survivors who survived the crash who was one of the stars of the team and then later to find out that he passed away just taking the hope away from this entire community. the desire and the willingness for this team to go forward to the team itself and the players and the young players really rallied and were on the ice the very next day. after the plane crash while there were funeral

services and while there were rallies there were players on the ice ready to rebuild the. team so that there could be a team in the future and that was an inspiration. here on. hello and welcome to business the south thanks for joining me now that russia has been approved for w t o membership local carmakers are under pressure to match the foreign competitors if you will venture between truck maker year of it and the next investment group is trying to push ahead by making russia's first hybrid car the beeld the project has also won support from the gas monopoly gas problem archies maria costa has the details. this is the your concept one of the two

corso here today the door slide that puts it about a foot from the bumper and instead of your side mirrors you have video cameras instead now this futuristic little yellow will cost you no more than fifteen thousand dollars and the company claims it will save you even more money in the long term. all of the you know cars have an internal combustion engine and generator they can run on petrol and natural gas and of course natural gas is not only cheaper it's also better for the environment you know auto has been showing off its pride and joy for a couple of months now and it has already secured one hundred fifty thousand orders mass production is expected to begin next spring and they plan to make forty five thousand cars a year with. gazprom will encourage the promotion of the project in the market we see this car as a consumer of gas engines you see additional demand in the russian market experts say the russian car market could become the world's six largest by twenty twenty

selling four million cars a year this will come on the back of foreign partnerships modernization and more local production with russia joining the w t o it's now more important than ever to modernize the country's current the street and these yama bills are seen as great contenders to compete with foreign auto powerhouses but car experts are already skeptical about the yos with some doubt saying they will work and others claim in the company's designs are not practical and their prices will eventually have to go up the key here is not only to deliver what they promised but to convince russians that locally made cars can be better than foreign ones and that's not an easy task more in a car service business r.t. . gas from the has to postpone plans to create its first electricity joint venture in western europe germany. he says that the parties and the talks to set up the

venture after failing to agree on deal the joint venture was planned to operate in germany u.k. belgium and the netherlands the talks started in the summer as part of our response to mitigate the costs of germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in ten years separately gazprom says it's considering taking part in up to five projects in bavaria. looking at the markets now all is heading for its biggest weekly gain in almost two months up three fell the most in a decade last week that's after u.s. economic reports indicate that the growth in the world's largest consumer will accelerate light sweet is trading at. just below one hundred dollars per barrel while brant is a one hundred nearly one hundred dollars put out of the some markets in asia rebound on friday but trading volume is nothing in the region as to plans markets closing all the call it a whole beacon on the picture in the us as boosting sentiment saying it's up over

one percent with commodity stocks notable. it's one hour ahead of the opening bell here in moscow so let's take a look at thursday's closing figures allies extended plus a positive. out of it around one percent alexander pisco from troika dialog previews with a strange. one pretty much from is there such a car or oil prices the russian market is not all pure it means that there will be some credible momentum and we can expect some. moves you know especially the stocks before the new year and christmas it's really difficult to expect will be significant you are simple which you would use market except for if you will have some downgrades from some of the major european submarines we have some. sold one of simple. that's our update this self but don't forget you can always find more financial stories on our website that started dot

com slash was.