you're watching r.t. with worldwide news live from moscow i'm a research showing two separate suicide bomb attacks have hit the syrian capital damascus it's where arab league observers sent to help stabilize the conflict torn country and are starting their work state t.v. which says the blasts left several people dead suggests al qaeda militants could be to blame moscow has expressed hope that the arab league team can do something to help stem the bloodshed without the need for outside military interference sara furthur investigates. 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 excuse me 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 coltan trait of conflict is actually happening now 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 the violence breaking out at civilians us but they seemed if anything to being free single force of sitting around two hundred people having been killed in the past three days as the conflict continues

what we are seeing is this becoming both sides leaving really 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 the many many more that are going to need to be taken before you see the situation here in syria coming down. r.t. sara further boarding right meantime a serious state news agency says that over two thousand members of the security forces have been killed since the unrest began and damascus claims a recent un human rights reports alleging a brutal government crackdown and not the whole story an activist sibel edmonds says the western media is distorting the picture of the real situation to help increase public support for

a war against the country. what we see here about these atrocities five howser. 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 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 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 pocket sea off the u.s. foreign policy you're looking at live playing right in front of you. others as sibel edmonds there are founder of the national security whistleblowers coalition talking to us earlier from washington. a wave of synchronized bombings have rocked the iraqi capital on thursday and it's caused more uncertainty about the ability of the earth or he's there to ensure security but also threatens to make the political

fault lines in the country even wider almost twenty separate blasts ripped through the city ranging from car bombs to hidden explosives seventy two people now confirmed dead over two hundred injured the attacks took place a few days after withdrawal of the american troops from the country u.s. leaders insist they've left behind a stable nation nine years after launching an invasion when jeremy corbyn british labor and member of 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 seen 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 in a war for disarmament of the nonexistent 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 is absolutely huge. but damage done to the american soldiers who served in iraq and other countries is also unaccountable even when the guns fall silent and cease fires are agreed upon wars live on in the minds of the men and women who fought and a killer stalks them that is more deadly than the enemies they once faced as artie's lives water ports. being in this environment is killing u.s.

soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants fortunately and have 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 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. 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. too unless.

for shooting is that enough. 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 toward 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. coming from the heart of moscow here still ahead for you in the program shawn thomas remembers the plane crash that wiped out the entire lokomotiv hockey team he looks back on 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 shaped two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . eleven minutes past two in the afternoon here on friday you're watching r.t. turkey is recalling its ambassador 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 a fine 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 armenians but turkey denies the genocide saying it's up to an international committee of historians to decide what really happened here girl lane a professor of political science at paris west university things prances move is simply just a way of scoring political points. first of all you have to realize that it's a build through the lower house that are meant 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. 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 together you know i mean invoked 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. you're watching r.t. now dmitri medvedev has sent proposals to the state duma which would 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 the president also touched the issue of mass protests against the results of the election earlier this month the opposition claimed the voting was rigged and demanded a new poll was held by the russian president promised all allegations of violations would be thoroughly investigated. or big brother is set for a ride on oxford taxis that is if the local authorities have their way and install or you valence in every single in this british city purposely activists 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 that laura smith reports. in oxford surveillance cameras everywhere and now in the 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 fit the best

security late at night are reassured others see it as a staggering invasion of privacy i think it's good idea i think it will make people feel a bit safer it's amazing and pretty famous because i have to talk entices just like chatty friends you know we're going to. put a lot of pressure on people who behave. innocent person probably feel comfortable answering 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 good we don't think to keep 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 some of these bedroom this is the back of a taxi we. driver in the front seat who will be a able to overhear any conversation that you're having with a passenger or someone's privacy campaigners on the other hand i 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 justifiable intrusive council of quiet 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 great enough to warrant 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 many at this local firm object to the blanket approach if people used. as in the i was not working is a camera still going to be because they're not going to family and friends filmed while the puzzle being what it would. whoa that is you know for me. they may question why are we want to. sort of. you know. this is actually 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's prying eyes and ears into

innocent people's lives nora smith oxford. well we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow where plenty more stories for you on our website our heroes some of the items are standing by for you right now at our dot com health definitely without trial 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 listen to music is to be posthumously awarded the grammy find out what revolutionary achievements led to steve jobs getting the top honor the u.s. music industry has to. check out some other global headlines for you in the world update now but world leaders have flocked to prague to attend the funeral of former czech president vaclav havel who died on sunday hillary clinton former u.s. president bill clinton and a number of european heads of state will be among the mourners the dissident writer and politician let the czech republic's transition to democracy and over sort split

from slovakia over twenty thousand checks turned out on thursday to pay their last respects during a procession. 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's worth of rain fell in just one night when typhoon washi 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 a report by the u.s. government said the alliance was retaliating against what it thought was an insurgent attack the u.s. blamed years ago and on poor coordination with pakistani border forces the attack in november 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 the christ church in southern new zealand provoking a mass evacuation of public buildings despite the strength of the quake no casualties have been reported no tsunami warning issued either but the city has still not fully recovered from a quake that killed almost two hundred and caused billions of dollars of damage that was back in february. which could have you with us today here in r.t. we're looking back at some of the major events of two thousand and eleven today we remember the fatal plane crash that took the lives of the entire jaroslav all locomotive hockey team in russia most talked about the grief and sorrow that he witnessed while covering the tragedy in the team's home town.

you were hearing it on the radio in fact in the taxi on the way to work you know they were there were listening to it you know everybody was it was just hitting the gravity of what had happened. this was much bigger than a plane crash it was much bigger than. it was at a worldwide event. as you got to 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 practiced it was just amazing to see such an outpouring of support. i haven't missed a single much since i've been living in. 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 that did it 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 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 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 jaroslava locomotive team so that there could be a team in the future and that was an inspiration to us. now as he is looking back at the most significant events of two thousand and eleven and seen through the eyes of our correspondents i was showing you a lot of the stories that never made it regularly. it was and i think you can also catch all of these dots here. in the studio with the latest business news. thank you rory hello and welcome top business update this hour now that russia has been approved for w.t.r. membership local carmakers are under pressure to match their foreign competitors a joint venture between a truck maker a year of it and the next an investment group is trying to push ahead by making

russia's first hybrid car you'll feel the project has also won support from the gas monopoly gas. going across from has more. this is the your concept one of the two corso here today the doors like. 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 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 for the. gazprom winning cars 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 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 car in 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 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

marina car service business r.t. . gas probably has the greatest first electricity joint venture in western europe germany second. utility r.v. says the parties ended talks to set up the venture after falling to agree failing to agree on the deal the j.v. was planned power plants in germany u.k. belgium and the netherlands the talks started and summer as part of a plan 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 electricity projects in. russia has cut its key interest rate as inflation drops to the lowest levels in a decade the rate has been cut by a quarter of a percent to eight percent government hopes cheaper loans will help business grow a met instability in the global economy. let's look at the markets now european stock markets are trading higher on a big data for the u.s.

although volumes a low ahead of the christmas weekend london world trade a shortened session today here in russia markets are trading mixed in the afternoon of the r.t.s. is gaining point four percent my six is half a percent in the red let's have a look at some individual friends and myself most of the blue chips are trading in the red energy and banking stocks are lower gas reversed from earlier gain is down now so i was looking for a role snap chatting over one and a half percent telecom is the top gainer up over three percent this hour are reports that the government will take over seven point four percent of the state. well that's it from me but remember you can always find more financial stories if you log on to our website the address is r t dot com slash business tax watch.

oh.

if you're just joining us a very warm welcome here this is our to you live from moscow the headlines now arab league observers in syria with russia hoping that they can help to stem the violence before a foreign a military intervention of a day now a reivers true suicide car bombs rocked damascus with state t.v. blaming al qaida linked terrorists. more u.s. soldiers losing their lives to suicide or rather than enemy bullets.