arab league observers and her syria to find a peaceful lands to the internal conflicts there moscow hopes they can help stabilize a troubled country before foreign military staff in. the fight goes on more u.s. soldiers are losing their lives to suicide than anime boards causing some veterans to warn young people not to enlist. and british human rights groups vied for a no spine zone in the world's most surveilled country pauli an office for a city council not to record what's being said in taxis. and buses pushing ahead with its first hybrid car at the moment below as local car makers are

under pressure to match their foreign cars competitors find out more from a business bulletin for two minutes. one pm the russian capital you're watching r t with me. arab league observers are in syria with the aim of helping to stabilize a conflict torn country will 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 artist sara first 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 the places where the colds and try to conflict is actually happening now that's been a real problem here in the country wolf 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 but 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 leaving really 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 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 our first reporting there syria state news agency says over two thousand members of the security forces have been killed since unrest began and i'm. ask his claims recent un human rights reports alleging a brutal government crackdown are not the whole story activists. the western media is a storing a 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 how 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 for our own news websites we have been getting information from syria and these are not necessarily the supporters of assad will 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 is all 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 that this situation 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 popper sea off the u.s. foreign policy you're looking at live playing right in front of you. so if i had meant the national security you whistleblowers coalition talking to us from washington. a wave of synchronized bombings rocked the iraqi capital and thursday causing more uncertainty about the ability of the authorities to ensure

security and 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 a country u.s. leaders insist they left behind a stable nation nine years after launching an invasion but your army corps of and british labor m.p. and member of the stop the war coalition has a very different view. of 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 under the biggest u.s. embassy the world has ever see 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 it's done 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 on accountable even when the guns fall silent cease fires are agreed wars live on in the minds of the man and women who fought and kill or stocks them that is more deadly than the enemies they once faced as our lives wall reports. being in

this environment is killing us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants and fortunately inhabits 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 mathur 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 the tach to and conflicted the laws of decency don't apply to soldiers in combat and when you go back to having to apply those last 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 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 came back to is not often the same one that they left and 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 enough to know that there 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 are. also i have here v r t r t ishant thomas remember the 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 you are slow locomotive practice 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 into bassett or in france after the lower house of the french parliament passed a law making it a crime to deny the genocide of many and in turkey in the early twentieth century if approved by the senate offenders could face a year in prison and a fine of forty five thousand euros 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 of the half million armenians by turkey denies the genocide saying it's up to an international committee of historians to decide what really happened here carolan a professor of political science at paris west university thinks france's move is just a way of scoring political points. but 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 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. to be true if assam proposals to the state duma which could make it easier for candidates to run for political office in russia in his annual 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 medvedev 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 allegations of violations would be. thoroughly investigated. big brother is set for a ride in oxford taxis that is if 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 and a court in another city has sent its own message by rejecting similar security surveillance their artist or smith reports. in oxford surveillance cameras

everywhere and now in the city council scheme taxis will become the latest targets of state 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 fit the best security late at night all reassured others see it as a staggering invasion of privacy i need is

a good idea i think it will make people feel a bit safer it's amazing and pretty same advice you have to talk entices just like chatty friends you know be going to. put a lot of pressure on people who behave. i think there are enough surveillance camera in oxford and i think it's quite awkward to have a video camera and everything in a taxi good we don't think he to be taped or 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 will. driver in the front seat who will be able to overhear any conversation that we're 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 justifiably 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 force is greater toward every person should be recorded indiscriminately for example a panic button system being tricked everybody is potential criminals. treating everybody as a. 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

cap is many at this local firm object to the blanket approach people used. is a kind of going to be. whoa is it me. we want to. 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's 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 on mind for you right now better to dot com health indefinitely without trial or charge that could be the reality for the u.s. as a new bill makes it to the white house on its way to becoming law. and the man who changed the world and the way we'll listen to music is to be posthumously awarded the grammy find out what revolutionary achievements led to steve jobs getting the top author the u.s. music industry has to give. and now let's take a look at some of the stories from around the world the philippine government says over a thousand people are missing following floods that devastated the southern islands last saturday the number of confirmed dead also stands at over a thousand a month worth of rain fell in just one night when thai food washee hit the region triggering landslides and flash floods tens of thousands are now taking refuge in evacuation centers. the pentagon says mistakes led to nato

airstrikes in northern pakistan that killed twenty four soldiers are reported by the u.s. government said the alliance was retail eating against what it thought was an insurgent attack the u.s. blamed the incident on poor coordination with pakistani border forces the attack in of amber put significant strain on relations between washington and islamabad causing the pakistani government to close border routes into neighboring afghanistan. a five point eight magnitude earthquake has shaken christchurch in southern new zealand provoking a mass evacuation of public buildings despite the strength 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. in the u.s. republican leaders have caved in. and 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 because it will save around a thousand dollars a year for the average u.s. pay packet and the new jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers will also now avoid a significant hit to their paychecks in january well. arty's looking back at some of the major events of two thousand and eleven and today we remember the fatal plane crash that took the lives of the entire jaroslav 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 you know they were they were listening to it and everybody was it was just the gravity of what happened.

this was much bigger than it was much bigger. as you got to. the personal connection of everyone in the town. there was anger there was a 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. every season and that's why it's painful. scene when it was pouring down rain it was in the middle of the day my glasses were just.

thousands of people came. as soon as we finished our live shot we saw the. 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. he 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 chile who is 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 crashed while there were funeral services and while there were rallies there were players on the ice ready to rebuild the locomotive team so that there could be

a team in the future and that was an inspiration. in the world. hello and welcome to business here in r.t. thanks for joining me now that russia has been approved for w.t. membership local carmakers are under pressure to match their foreign competitors its own venture between truck maker yet the next an investor group is trying to push ahead by making russia's first hybrid car the. project has also won support from the gas monopoly gazprom artie's mine across well as all that and. this is the your concept one of the two cars so here today the doors slide backwards at 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 video 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 for the. 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 from 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 deals are seen as great contenders to compete with foreign auto powerhouses but car experts are already skeptical. about the yos with some doubting that will work and others claim in the company's designs are not practical and their prices will at benchley have to go up because 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 marina cost service business r.t. . has to postpone plans to create its first electricity joint venture in western europe germany's second largest utility all. the parties ended talks to set up the venture after failing to agree on a deal with j.v. was planned to operate power plants in germany u.k. belgium and the netherlands the talks started in the summer as part of all these

plans to mitigate the costs of the decision to phase out power in ten years separately gas problems has its considering taking part in up to five atrocity projects in bavaria. as of a look at the markets now all is heading for its biggest weekly gain in two months that's up to us economic reports indicated that growth in the world's largest cruise consumer will exhilarate light sweet is trading at just below one hundred dollars per barrel while grain it's over one hundred nearly one hundred and eight dollars a barrel. the european stock markets open high as the data from the u.s. continue to resonate although volumes expect to be knowing ahead of the christmas weekend in london a short session today and here in russia markets are trading mixed in the afternoon the r.t.s. is point three percent of them isaac's is pointing downwards now let's have a look at some individual sheryl's and why is it some stocks have reversed earlier gains energy stocks are trading mixed gazprom is up while local and will sniff of

gold in the red hydro is shedding point zero point four percent as well and bank has reversed i'm totally against it and is now pointing downwards. russian oil company special west put its london i.p.o. on hold until next year the company plans to list a third of a tall and weighs three hundred fifty million dollars to pay off debt and increase output so it's as close to the offering say that the flotation has been postponed due to low demand ahead of presidential elections in which. now we'll be looking at the markets in the next hour so join me in about fifteen minutes from.

the. new year's wishes on technology updates next generation playfields made from super strong cultural lightweight building materials to help with nuclear isotopes cleaner planet seems to the revolutionary way to get rid of our growing man kills and along with the russian invaders. the central. mission in free cretaceous free in-store charge is free coming.