this is r t coming to you live from moscow i'm marina joshie 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 stand the bloodshed without the need for outside military interference r.t. sara for us reports. 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 colds and try to conflict is actually happening now that's been a real problem here in the country also 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 violence breaking out of civilian deaths in fact they seemed if anything to be increasing of course putting around two hundred people having been killed in the past few days and as the conflict continues what we are seeing is this becoming all both sides seemingly increasingly

arms increasingly bloody certainly that team of observers are really going to have their work cut out for them that everyone is going to be very much are you paying this some form of change can now be a both 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. first reporting there syria state news agency says over two thousand members of the security forces have been killed since unrest began and. basket's claims recent un human rights reports alleging a brutal government crackdown are not the whole story activists about as the western media is distorting the picture of the real situation to help increase public support for war against the country what we see hear about these atrocities add five to housing. 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 saddam these are the people who are providing information to us they are there they are on the ground and then be run these stories nobody picks them up except a handful of international news outlets because it does not conform to what the group reported here in the united states that 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

a turkey on 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 the decision 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 key papa see off the us foreign policy you're looking at live playing right in front of you. subelements founder of the national security 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 it also threatens to make the political fault lines in the country even wider almost twenty separate blast 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 american troops from the country u.s. leaders insist they left behind a stable nation nine years after launching an invasion but jeremy corbin british labor m.p. a member of the stop the war coalition has a very different view. what's been achieved has been a 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 and the biggest u.s. embassy the world has ever seen it doesn't look to me it has been a 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 in a war for disarmament of the non-existent weapons of mass destruction and the damage is done in iraq in the region and the civil liberties of everybody in every one of the participating countries is absolutely huge. but damage down to the american soldiers who served in iraq in other countries is also i'm countable even when the guns fall silent and cease fires are agreed wars live on in the minds of the man and women who fought and a killer stocks and that is more deadly than the enemies the ones faced charges liz wahl reports. being in this environment is killing us soldiers spot surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants i am

fortunate to have this 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 leads 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 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 they're back things happened in their families while they were gone the situation they came 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's not the case. 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 are. also the hat for you are a tease sean thomas remembers a plane crash that wiped out the entire jaroslava locomotive 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 is recalling is a massacre in 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 offenders could face a year in prison and fines of forty five thousand euro hundreds of french turks 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 of meanings but turkey denies the genocide saying it's up to an international committee our story instead aside what really happened here your land a professor of political science at paris west university thinks france's move is

just a way of scoring political points which was the first of all you have to realize that it's a build good thing through the lower house the amount and then it has to go to the senate most probably it would not go to the service before the presidential election and maybe it would die out with all these so little political game is played by various political parties. there is historical debate genocide is not going down 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 crimes in the past but establishing historical truth is the work of the story and it is not something that should be done and established by law. dimitri might have to send proposals to the state duma which could make it easier for candidates to run for political office in russia and he's an email address to parliament the

russian president suggested a number of reforms some of which could be implemented as soon as next year in his speech president also touched the issue of mass protest against the results of the election earlier this month the opposition claimed the voting was rigged and demanded a new poll was held the russian president promised all a geisha violations will be thoroughly investigated. big brother is set for rides on oxford taxis that is if the local authorities have their way and install audio surveillance in every cab in the british city privacy activists are fighting them tooth and nail claiming people's rights will be violated at a court in another city has sent its own message by rejecting similar security surveillance there are these 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're 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 late at night all 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 the privacy as i have to talk entices just like chat with

friends and not be caught in the. heavy isn't it puts a lot of pressure on people who behave. the ordinary innocent person probably feels a little comfortable actually 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 better and this is the back of a taxi with. a driver in the front seat who will be a able to overhear any conversation but you're having with a passenger or someone on fire 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 unjustifiably intrusive council of quiet threats which exist that requires them to record not just video but also the conversation of passengers we simply don't accept that the first is greater toward every part of the conversation being recorded indiscriminately rather the for example a panic button system being so it treats everybody as potential criminals. treating everybody as a law abiding citizen 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 is many at this local firm object to the blanket approach people used. as in the i was not working as

a chemist or going to be because. family and friends filmed. it with. whoa is it me. they may question why are we monitored there is always a sort of fear that. well. this is like a prison oxford city council doesn't think it's going to have any trouble pushing this measure through but previously campaigners see it differently they're launching a complaint with an independent data protection body to try and stop what they see as the further creeping encroachments of the state prying eyes and is into innocent people's lives laura smith oxford. now plenty more stories for you on our website here's what's online for you right now at r.t. dot com. a ship loaded with american missiles disguised as fireworks gets busted into finnish forward with a shipment believed to be on route to u.s.

ally south korea. and the man who changed the world the way we listen to music is to be posthumously awarded a grammy find out what revolutionary treatments led to steve jobs getting the top honor the u.s. music industry has to give. now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world the pentagon says mistakes led to nato airstrikes in northern pakistan to kill twenty four soldiers a report by the u.s. government said the alliance was retail using against what it thought was an insurgent attack the u.s. blamed the incident on poor coordination with pakistani border forces the attack in a van were put significant strain on relations between washington and islamabad causing the pakistani government to close the border routes into neighboring afghanistan. a five point eight magnitude earthquake has shaken christ

church in southern new zealand provoking a mass evacuation of public buildings despite the strength of the quake no casualties have been reported and no tsunami warning has been issued the city has still not fully recovered from a quake that killed almost two hundred people and caused billions of dollars of damage in february. rival palestinian factions have made a significant step towards reconciliation with the announcement hamas will join the palestinian liberation organization hamas and fatah also agree to hold an election next year to grade 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 in the west bank. and the us republican leaders have caved in on president obama's demands to extend a payroll tax cut members of the republican led house of representatives has

previously refused to vote on the extension because it will save around a thousand dollars a year for the average u.s. pay package and renew jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers will also now avoid a significant hit to their paychecks in january small but. 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 in the taxi on the way to work you know they were they were listening to it and everybody was it was just hitting them the gravity of what had happened. this was much bigger than

a plane crash it was much bigger than russia it was a worldwide event. as you got to yourself or you felt that the personal connection of everyone in the town to the team. 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 practice it was just amazing to see such an outpouring of support. i haven't missed a single much since i've been living and you know. i go every season and that's why it's painful. i remember we were out at the scene when it was pouring down rain it was in the middle of the day my glasses were just. fogged up with the rain

thousands of people came to pay their final respects to the team members and as soon as we finished our live shot we saw this one player in jersey walking with two of his friends in this moment of shock in this very rare and very raw moment and that was 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 fans the people who really 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 the 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 and in chile 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 in the willingness for this team to go forward that 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 jaroslava locomotive team so that there could be a team in the future and that was an inspiration. we have

today acknowledged what's happening in the world of business karina's here. hello and welcome to business here not too thanks for joining me this hour now that russia has been approved for membership a local comic under pressure to match their foreign competitors it joint venture between truck maker year of it and the next an investment group is trying to push ahead by making russia's first hybrid car below the project has also won support from the gas went up of the gas problem ati's line acosta has more. this is the your concept one of the two corso here today the door is like sitting about a foot from the bomb and instead of your so i mirrors you have video cameras and 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 vo cars have an internal combustion engine and generator but you're wrong 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. 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 seven 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 marie in a car service business r.t. . gas probably has to create its first electricity joint venture in western europe germany second largest. he says the parties ended talks to set up a venture after failing to agree on a deal j.v. was planned to operate germany and belgium netherlands the talks started in the summer as part of all these plans 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 of the two is the project in bavaria. let's take a look at the markets now oil is heading for its biggest week again in almost two months after it fell the most in a technique last week that's up to us economic reports indicate that the growth in the world's largest crude consumer will accelerate flights we just trading at just below one hundred dollars a barrel while brant is at nearly one hundred eight dollars a barrel. markets in asia rebound on friday but trading volumes are then in the region as to cause markets are closed for a public holiday on the whole and i'll be going to mix picturing the u.s. is boosting sentiment is up over one point three percent this hour with commodity stocks a notable bit. when you see a stock markets open higher speed data from the u.s. continue to resonate volume is expected to be lower the head of the christmas weekend and london will trade a shortened session. and here in russia markets are trading mixed in the afternoon

as is gaining point seven percent my six is down just under four for a set let's have a look at something to bitch on trembles on my eyes at this hour energy stocks trading mixed gas problem is up half a percent well look at all snap the ball in the red so was moved to that is setting point four percent this hours but spare bank is trading slightly. russian oil company has put its london i.p.o. on hold until next year the company plans to lift a third of it weighs three hundred fifty million dollars to pay off debts and increase output sources close to the offering say that the flotation has been postponed due to low demand ahead of presidential elections in russia. that's our update for this hour but other back with more about fifteen minutes for a. long

. the least explore rio's. touched by money. surrounded by stupid. case paintings on display for found some sort of use.

eastern sun the only time i go. see. a little. leg. welcome back here with r t these are the top stories arab league observers and or syria aiming to help stabilize the conflict torn country russia hopes the peacemakers can help stem the violence before a foreign military intervention and. more u.s. soldiers are now losing their lives to suicide than enemy bullets unable to readjust a peaceful life that's causing some veterans to war and young people not to enlist .