eight pm in moscow i'm mad très a good to have you with us here on r t our top story around forty people have been killed more than one hundred wounded in two suicide bombings in syria's capital the regime is laying blame for the attack on al qaida it's the first incident of its kind in the mask is since the uprising started in march as comes against the backdrop of the first batch of arab league monitors arriving to implement a peace deal a group of observers visited the site of the bombings and called for calm the former belgian m.p. load even those things the foreign powers are actually seeking a reason for military intervention. al qaeda is active already in syria for some time and maybe twenty maybe they're also responsible for d.c. attacks so when the assad government is claiming that they are merely fighting an

armed resistance from abroad. they do have a point but that does not change the fact that there also is a popular uprising in the country nato is indeed waiting for such and i i weigh my words make excuses to the day doing the interview and i'll try this involved but not necessarily because they're against what al qaeda is doing look at what they what to do real allies are in libya and something similar is happening in libya in syria sorry but it will succeed is another matter of the west if i can use that to west wants to control the middle east and for the moment syria is the day to ship out of out of their control the issue is not whether the sea is addicted to porn or not i mean nato is and the west is supporting data ships to saudi arabia and bahrain and others that's not the issue the age issue is whether that's true jean that is on their side or not really serious believe it is not on their side

therefore they have to go. syrian government troops allegedly gunned down hundreds of civilians this week the west wants the crackdown to stop but refuses to acknowledge that the opposition is armed this despite a legion of army desert earth now fighting against president assad as our case our fourth report from damascus international monitors will have their hands full trying to put a peace plan into effect. well the advanced arab league team is now in damascus they have of course to pave the way for the observer mission 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 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 breakout has prevented 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 tiring reports that the violence breaking out at civilians us but they seem if anything to be policing the pulls of sitting 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 that 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 the many many more that are going to need to be taken before you see the situation here in syria coming down. international opinion remains split on exactly what the arab league observers can actually achieve in syria we want to know what you think so click on r.t. dot com and have your say by participating in our online poll at the moment most of the respondents think the mission will actually precipitate foreign military intervention in the country fewer believe the efforts will produce nothing more than a few headlines and barely so far think it will buy damascus more time to crush the opposition or that it will force the two sides of the conflict to finally behave if you haven't already logged on to r.t. dot com and click your vote. will stay with us plenty more coming your way here on r t this hour in the latest edition our special feature focusing on the year two

thousand and eleven artie's sean thomas this time talking about the extreme grief and pain he witnessed when covering the plane crash that killed the entire lokomotiv hockey team. i remember we were out of the scene when it was pouring down rain it was in the middle of the day we saw this one player in new jersey walking along with two of his friends in this moment of shock in this very rare and very well moment 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. with this is. just history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . iraqi government plunges deeper into crisis with leaders in gauging a blame game following a wave of bombings rocking the country thursday city comes only a few days after the pullout of u.s.

troops was the works to tack in months with at least seventy two people killed nearly two hundred injured in a series of blasts across baghdad crisis talks between the country's political leaders were canceled friday following a raw in which the iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki was blamed by the opposition for the violence you have this industry the u.s. administration insists it left behind a stable country nine years after launching the invasion but joseph shore a writer for the world socialist web site thinks the latest flare ups in the region are a product of the occupation. this was not about you know securing iraq and giving it freedom it was about securing resources and in the process. sectarian tensions devastated the entire society and this is really the product of that you have different factions of the iraqi lead who are battling over power over control over resources including particular oil contracts and threatens to

unravel into a civil war the conflict the violence in iraq is very much a product of the occupation itself and you know that's really the source of the christ is facing iraqi politics and iraqi society i mean look at what what does i.q. haitian has produced over one million people killed by some estimates thirty five percent of iraqi children. living now is orphans destination of infrastructure the entire society has been scarred by this occupation by this war. u.s. troop withdrawal leaves behind a country embittered by occupation that's cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars as u.s. soldiers return home for christmas for many the mood is far from joyful though with suicide rates among veterans on the rise liz wahl 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 it 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 activist 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 veteran 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 there bad. 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 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 campaigns such as army strong glorify life as a soldier and aim to entice america's young men and women. two unless.

we're shooting is that the. average size 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 listen. to some veterans who have struggled after conflict and strive to face down the torment of life after their service a small number have resorted to desperate measures are to reports online here's a story of a former soldier forced upon his medals to put food on the table that and much more a click away at our t. dot com. times delayed a look back at some of the major events shaping the year two thousand and eleven through the eyes of our team correspondents who covered them today we focus on a fatal plane crash that wiped out the entire jaroslava locomotive hockey team in

russia sean thomas share some of the thoughts and memories that didn't make it into his previous reporting. 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 you know everybody was it was just hitting them the gravity of what happened but. this was much bigger than a plane crash it was much bigger than russia it was a worldwide event. as you got to jaroslava 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 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 well moment 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 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. and each day up to the new year will bring you more personal reflections from our correspondents covering the year's biggest stories and if you can't wait you can also see them on our website our team dot com. turkey has now accused france of the genocide during the during the colonial occupation of algeria this after the lower house of the french parliament approved legislation making it a crime to deny any genocide including by the mass killings by turkey of armenians

in the early twentieth century the bill imposes a fine of forty five thousand euros a year in jail for offenders but still needs to be approved by the french senate turkey's already recalled its ambassador from france halted military ties with paris more than fifteen countries recognize the slaughter of around one and a half million armenians but turkey denies genocide saying it's up to an international committee of historians to decide what really happened here girl a new professor of political science at paris 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 thing through the lower house the mint and then it has to go to the senate. probably it would not go to the senate before the presidential election and maybe it would die out you know. so little political game he played by various political contests. there's the 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. what better watch what you rather you better watch what you say especially if you're set to ride an oxford taxi authorities in the british city plan to install an audio and video surveillance system in every cab there by two thousand and fifteen compares of call the city council decision a staggering invasion of privacy and claim people's rights will be violated artie's laura smith as more. 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 some who fear for their security late at night are reassured others see it as a staggering invasion of privacy i think it's going to end there i think it will make people feel a bit safer it's amazing and pretty same advice you have to talk entices just like to not be caught in the. heavy isn't it. puts a lot of pressure on people who behave. innocent person. 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 abused this let's remember this is not someone's front room this is not some of his bedroom 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 know having the 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 council of coy 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 recorded indiscriminately rather the for example a panic button system being how it treats everybody as potential criminals. treating everybody as a law abiding citizen and while the council says it has the support of kapisa many

at this local firm object to the blanket approach if people used. the car as well. as in the i was not working is a camera still going to be wrong because they're not going to family and friends filmed while the puzzle being what it would. whoa is you know for them it me. they may question why are we monitored there is always a sort of fear that you know. 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's prying eyes and ears into innocent people's lives laura smith oxford. a russian satellite has reportedly

plummeted back to earth after failing to reach orbit friday officials suspect a rocket failure to blame an investigation is underway a soyuz booster blasted off from a cosmic roam in central russia but couldn't take the meridian military communications probe to orbit the accident could cost the russian space agency about six hundred million dollars but there are many more space excesses than failures and most successful soyuz launch has reached its target docking with the international space station crew members up to the i.s.a.'s will spend five months in orbit conducting dozens of experiments and if you're lucky and have a clear enough sky you can actually watch the docking from right here on earth. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe thousands of egyptian protesters gathered in cairo's tahrir square to rally against military violent demonstrators demanded security forces step down after soldiers were caught eating female protesters stripping and dragging one through a street just a week ago last week's anti-military demonstrations led to the deaths of seventeen

people in the capital protesters want the military to hand over power to a civilian authority headed let's next year's presidential elections. chinese riot police have fired tear gas to break up a mass protests in a small town in southern china it is the fourth day of rallies against the construction of a new power station activists also say that existing coal fired power plant has contributed to a recent rise in cancer cases as well as can see police in the crowd demanding authorities release a number of demonstrators it was locked in a standoff with police five people so far just the. city of christchurch new zealand has suffered a series of the earthquakes the strongest region a magnitude five point eight amateur footage showing people screaming and running out of the supermarket in panic the quake rattled buildings and prompted mass evacuations but despite its strength no reported casualties and no tsunami issued it was warning you issued the city still recovering from an earlier quake in

february that killed more than one hundred eighty people and caused billions of dollars. haiti's up next with the latest business news stay with us here on r.t. . hello welcome to the business program here and i'll say russia has cut it as right as inflation drops to the lowest levels in decades the rate has been cut by a quarter of a percentage point to eight percent the government hopes cheaper loans will help business grow amid instability in the global economy so let's have a look at the markets and what's happening ok all prices are high all supported by u.s. economic reports that indicated that the modern world largest group can see amount will accelerate its way it is trading at just below one hundred dollars per barrel what brant is up one hundred seven dollars per barrel over in u.s. positive data showing jubal goods rising in november by the most in four was seems

to be reflecting in the markets the dow jones. trading positively this hour although there was a separate report showing consumer spending rising less than full cost last month and over in europe stocks are also benefiting from the upbeat data coming from the u.s. well they fall into it with coming up to the christmas weekend and in london traders have already gone off to celebrate the festive season on the russian markets have closed. last just a notch while the myself and his point seven cents in the red and the individual movements on the my says blue chips close mixed. point of four percent bank has been in the red for much of the day lost almost two percent and telecommunication provider. is among the top guy knows on the course the government would take around seven and a whole percent of the company's stake alexander wave can i assume measure wraps up

the week's trade. agreement. we don't see any signs of continuing for christmas christmas really while we can save a person for part of the week was probably heard one. what investors who are trying to understand this for all these are it's not going to be here and so for the last two days or week we see a slight positive move from europe we see that european stock futures are down more or less in the positive territory basically investors maybe already are in the christmas we don't know we'll see that one we will be when they will come back in the beginning of next week monday tuesday so basically we do not see the side of the christmas rush this here and this is probably the result of. instruments as we have seen on the markets for a couple of months so if you want us to. pass his biggest send dispatch bank has made another step a boat as full swiss bank s.o.b commercial bank for almost eighty one million

dollars from a russian oh my dear lou call it the bank will we do use its own brands or use it to develop syndicated lending and trade finance and business is. up to twenty five russian banks may lose their licenses next year has a fifty percent increase in two thousand and eleven the federal deposit insurance agency says a key reason would be doubling of the minimum capital requirements to six million dollars the agency says some of the nine hundred banks carney operating in russia would not be able to meet the new standards problems of liquidity and lending to affiliates are among the biggest problems in the russian banking system. some of them as you can see the weakest part of those banks which alone to their own there's an affiliated structures and this phenomenon is still here and some even playing that this is normal practice but that's actually an extremely risky business. brushes gas giant gazprom has to postpone plans to create its first and

it does do joint venture in western europe germany's second largest utility all w e says the party is and it talks to setup the bench after failing to agree on a deal but j.p. was planned to operate power plants in germany u.k. belgium and the netherlands we took started in the summer as part of the art of hughie's plan to mitigate the costs of germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in ten years separate problems as it's considering taking part in up to five electricity projects involving area and that's all business news for now i'll be back in about fifty five minutes for more joining them.

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the. markets. campbell find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two kinds of reports. eight thirty pm in moscow here r.t. headlights dozens killed in syria's capital in the first suicide bombing since the uprising in the country started in march this is our league observers get down to business and it effort to mediate a peace deal there. tensions are running high in iraq after more than seventy people were killed in a new bombing atrocity only days after u.s. troops pull out of the country this against the backdrop of a political crisis with government leaders putting the blame for the surge in vial

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