and today we also have cut interest rate i think this eleventh levels of debt they will be found in the business but it did lengthen the time. nine pm in moscow 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 double 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 damascus since the uprising started in march this against the backdrop of the first batch of arab league monitors arriving to implement a peace deal a group of the observers visited the site of the bombings and called for calm for more insight and analysis we turn to jordan bass professor and journalist louche. good to have you with us so we haven't seen

a suicide bombing in damascus since the uprising started how close do you think the country could be now to civil war. i think we are already in civil war civil war is fought in many ways and we have seen in places like homs. and several other border areas in syria there were armed clashes between heavily armed insurgents supported by. turkey or the gold states against syrian troops so this is just an escalation of the already existing civil war and the attacks happened just a day after the first arab league observers have arrived in country do you think it's a coincidence or what do you think about the timing. i think that the opposition as we have seen on subtotal t.v. in that where it's really irritated that the syrian regime has accepted to invite arab monitors from the arab league to come and monitor the situation in

syria so i think this is an attempt to sub the mission of the out of monitors as this would invite calm down by the regime since it's the response ability of end the regime to preserve law and order this kind of thing especially so close to security some players of the more of them taliban's services and downtown damascus is going to have to cause the syrian regime to climb down hard on armed insurgents that's complicate things a mission of the out of one of theirs so i think this was very well calculate the. the mission of the out of monitors by the opposition of course whoever has done this is serving the agenda of the insurgents regardless of the name whether they are required or not you think the arab league observers then will not get a fair and accurate picture of what's going on on the ground. well i think the arab

league will face very difficult situations not since they go and where there are military clashes and people blowing themselves up and that's that's going to cause a huge security risk for them for their lives as the syrian regime has said it is not responsible for the safety of the of monitors of they go into such on the other hand the arab league is saying and so is the international community that the syrian regime should be held responsible for the safety of the out of monaco's so there you have a very very tricky situation that could easily blow up in the face of this tune regime and let me just add that having accepted the presence of a lot of monitors to come and and all the clauses of the initiative regarding syria i do not think that the initiative is going to succeed i think it was meant to fail

from the start that the syrian regime is just trying to show that when it fails it's not going to be the one held responsible it's not going to be the culprit for the failure of the arab initiative now the russians have sent a fact finding mission to syria this summer they concluded that damascus is trying to implement reforms but need more time what do you think. well let me be honest with you i mean talking about reforms in syria especially when this kind of talk is coming from out of gulf states. even a constitution get on top of. the freedom of the media or the or the right to organize and political parties or organizations so this is this is just nonsense i mean when when someone who lacks the very basic tenets of democracy is preaching to

syria or other arab states that are independent or somewhat untie imperialist about democracy well this doesn't come across to go to an honest observer as honestly it's just simply a double standard that should not even stand i mean these out of gulf states they don't have a multi-party system they don't have free press they don't have free elections so what are they complaining about exactly what that's what the syrian regime has said we are going along with our reforms on our agenda and our time and we we need to see what those states have in the way of reform before they start preaching to us about reform this is obviously. and sailors and see that has been instigated by nato and its cronies and the arab world. all right we have to leave it there professor ybor hema louche speaking with us from jordan thanks about your what.

and the national opinion remains split on exactly what the arab league observers can achieve in syria we want to know what do you think just please click on r t dot com to have your say and participate in our online poll at the moment most think the mission will actually precipitate foreign military intervention in syria if you are believe that efforts will produce nothing more than a few headlines barely any so far think that it will buy damascus more time to crush the opposition or that it will force the two sides to settle doubt and behave themselves if you haven't click on r.t. dot com and cast your vote we'd love to hear from you. and still to come this hour the latest addition to our special feature feature focusing on twenty eleven this time around archy's sean thomas talks about the extreme grief and pain he witnessed while covering the yaroslavl plane crash that killed nearly the entire lokomotiv hockey team here's a peek. 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. history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . the iraqi government plunges deeper into crisis with leaders in gauging in a blame game blame game following a wave of bombings that rocked the country thursday it comes only a few days after the pullout of u.s. troops it was the worst attack in months 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 dispute in which iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki was blamed by the opposition

for the violence u.s. administration insists it left behind a stable nation nine years after launching the invasion of joseph you know for the world socialist web site things 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. so kerry intentions devastated the entire society and this is really the product of that you have different factions of the iraqi leaders who are battling over power over control over resources including particular oil contracts and threatens to unravel into a civil war that conflict the violence in iraq is very much a product of the occupation itself and you know that's really the source of the crisis 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 is leaving behind a country embittered by a occupation that's cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars and as u.s. soldiers return home for the holidays for some the mood is far from joyful with suicide rates among veterans on a troubling rise or fall reports. being in this environment. is killing us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants fortunately and have is the demographic in the united states that kills itself pretty much more than any other out there for the second year in a row more soldiers killed themselves than were killed in combat four hundred sixty

eight soldiers took their own lives in two thousand and ten and even off the battlefield suicide rates continue to soar 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 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 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 the military. 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 lismore. over some veterans who struggled after conflict and strive to face down the torment of their life after service a small number have resorted to desperate measures are two reports online on the story of one former soldier for football and his medals simply to put food on the table that and much more click away at our t. dot com. now it's time to take a look at some of the major events that shaped the year two thousand and eleven through the eyes of our correspondents covering that day we focus on a fatal plane crash that wiped out the entire ya. a locomotive hockey team in russia sean thomas shares some of his thoughts and memories that didn't make it into his previous reports.

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 practiced 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 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 inspirational things. and every day right up to the new year will bring in more personal reflections from our correspondents covering the year's biggest stories if you can't wait you can find them on our website heartiness dot com. turkey has now accused france of genocide 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 the mass killings by turkey of armenians in the early twentieth century the bill imposes a fine of forty five thousand euros and a year in jail for offenders but still needs to be approved by the setting turkish protesters took to the streets of on camera and is stunned both to express their

anger over the legislation turkey's already recalled its ambassador from france and halted all the military ties with paris more than fifteen countries recognize the slaughter of around one and a half million armenians but turkey denies charges of genocide here there lane a professor of political science at paris western 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. it would not go to the senate before the presidential election and maybe it would die out you know all these silly little political gain me slate him by various political pontus. there is historical debate genocide is not going down there was a genocide and there's also the political games being played by various pot just to get the armenian vote in the french elections every nation has to investigate its crimes in the past but establishing historical truth is that one of the story and

it is not something that should be done and established by law. better watch what you say especially if you're set to ride in oxford taxi authorities in the british city plan to install an audio and video surveillance system in every cab by twenty fifteen campaigners of call the city council's decision a staggering invasion of privacy claiming people's rights will be violated artie's laura smith has 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 is a good idea i think it will make people feel a bit safer it's an amazing a pretty fair game the dice we're talking taxes just like you know we pointed out that 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 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 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 or 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 force is great to go to war with everybody should be recorded indiscriminately the for example a panic button system because it treats everybody as potential criminals. treating everybody as a lower body itself and while the council says it has the support of kapisa many at this. object to the blanket approach if people used. as in the i was and. is

a kind is still going to be because they're not going to be family and friends. while the puzzle you'll be moving towards. whoa is. me. why are we. there is sort of. this sexy look at prison books but city council doesn't think it's going to have any trouble pushing this measure through but previous the campaign is see it differently than a complaint with an independent data protection body to try and stop what they see as the further creeping encroachments of the states prying eyes and is into innocent people's lives nora smith. it. turns out of some other stories making headlines across the globe thousands of egyptians protesters gathered in cairo's tahrir square rallying against military violence demonstrators demanding security forces stepped down after soldiers were caught beating female protesters stripping

and to rioting through the streets just a week ago last week 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 ahead of next year's presidential elections. christchurch new zealand has suffered a new series of earthquakes the strongest reaching a magnitude five point eight amateur footage showed people screaming and running out of a supermarket in panic the quake rattled buildings and prompted mass evacuations despite its strength no so far reported casualties and no tsunami warning issued a city still recovering from an earlier quake in february that killed more than one hundred eighty people and caused billions of dollars in debt. a special new year's edition of technology update coming your way in about ten minutes but first a look at the latest business news with katie. welcome

to the business program. interest rate as inflation drops to the lowest level in decades the races in cup by a quarter of a percentage point eight percent the government hopes cheap alliance will help business grow amid instability in the global economy. but a look at the markets european stocks benefited from the coming from the u.s. . ahead of the christmas week and on the russian markets closed lower. just a notch. and to the point seven percent. let's have a look at some individual. blue chips close mixed today all major lou call those point four percent. has been in the red for much of the day lost almost two percent on telecommunication provider. is among the top on the porch the government would take around seven on the whole percent of the comp mistake alexander which i have

seen much saw this week. quite calm we do not see any signs of continuing christmas christmas really while we can say that the first part of the week was probably best source for trying to understand first of all these are it's not going to be here around for the last two days or week but we see a slight positive move from europe we see that european stock futures are more or less in the positive territory basically investors maybe already are in the christmas we don't know when we will be when they will come back in the beginning of next week monday tuesday so basically we do not see the size of the christmas rush here and this is probably the result of. disturbances we have seen on the markets for a couple of months so you want us to. bush's biggest bank has made another step abroad and have purchased swiss banks commercial banks almost

eighty one million dollars from russia no major loophole. same ground and use it to develop syndicated lending and trade financing business is you're up. to twenty five russian banks may lose their licenses next year that's 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 agency says some of the nine hundred banks currently operating in russia would not be able to meet the new standards problems with liquidity lending to affiliates all of the biggest problems in the russian banking system. and that would because that's where the weakest part of those banks which loan to their own there's an affiliated structures and this phenomenon is still here and some even bring that this is normal practice but that's actually an extremely risky business

. gas giant gazprom house to put postpone plans to create its first electricity joint venture in western europe then the second largest utility. the parties and it talks to set up the venture after failing to agree on a deal the j.v. was planning to operate power plants in germany. and the netherlands the talks started in the summer as part of the plan to mitigate the cost of germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in ten years and separately gas from says it's considering taking paul's and up to five electricity projects involving area. that's all the business news for now join me in fifty five minutes for another edition good bye now.

welcome to the future thank you new year's wishes on technology updates next generation playfields made from super strong cultural lightweight building materials to help with the help of nuclear isotopes cleaner planet themes to the revolutionary new ways to get rid of our growing man fields and a long list of enemies of the russian invaders. please go to the country.

move. move move move. move. move move move. to. a. wealthy british science guy. that's not on the.

market why not. handle. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. nine 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 arab league observers get down to business in an effort to mediate a peace deal there. are tensions running high in iraq after more than seventy people were killed in a new bombing atrocity only days after u.s. troops pulled out of the country this against the backdrop of a political crisis with the government leaders putting the blame for the surging violence.