dozens killed in syria's capital in the first bombing since the uprising began his arab league observers got down to business in an effort to mediate a peace deal there. leaving the nation in despair tensions are running high in iraq as the government plunges deeper into crisis after a bombing atrocity claimed more than seventy lives just days after the pullout of u.s. troops. every breath you take every move you make could be recorded human rights activists in britain fighting a surge of surveillance cameras now to be installed in every taxi in oxford.

ten pm in the russian capital 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 the syrian capital the regime placing the 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 observers visited the site of the bombings and called for calm but jordan professor and journalist lucia thinks the league shouldn't be telling the syrian people what to do. talking about reforms in syria especially when this kind of talk is coming from out of gold states. even a constitutional mid-month of. freedom of the media are that i to organize them political parties or organizations so the. 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 depend on it or someone untie imperialist blood democracy well this doesn't come across to. observe what i was honestly it's just simply a double standard that should not even stand i mean this 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 senators schumer has said we are going along with reforms on our agenda over time and we need to see what those states have in the way over to form before they start preaching to us about reform this is obviously. an sos and see that has been instigated by a nights ago and it's cronies and the. syrian government troops allegedly gunned

down hundreds of civilians this week the west wants the crackdown to end but seems to be refusing to acknowledge then armed opposition this despite a legion of army deserters now fighting against president assad as r.t. sara furthur ports from damascus air national monitors will have their hands full trying to put a peace plan into action. 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 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 rounds to get to the places where the coltan trade to conflict is actually happening that's been

a real problem here in the country also we've been here for the past week actually getting to these areas accessing these people that are on the ground where the armed conflict is breaking out has proven extremely difficult but getting accurate information and verifying it full stop has been a major challenge we visited the city of homs and there you can hear the gunfire ringing out in the distance but ahead of the arab league team arriving here in the country we've heard very harrowing reports of violence breaking out at civilians us but they seemed if anything to be increasing the force of 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 on both sides seemingly increasingly 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 of course 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. there are. a split on exactly what the arab league observers can achieve in syria but we want to know what you think please click on r.t. dot com. have your say by joining in our online poll at the moment most of the respondents think the mission will precipitate foreign military intervention in syria if you are believe efforts will produce nothing more than a few headlines and barely any so far think it will buy damascus more time to crush the opposition or force the sides to sit down and behave themselves if you haven't already click on r.t. dot com cast your vote. will stay with us this hour still to come latest in our special feature focusing on the events of two thousand and eleven is time archies sean thomas speaks about the extreme grief and pain he witnessed when covering the plane crash that killed the entire locomotive ice hockey team. i remember we were

at 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 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 of. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven. the iraqi government is plunging deeper into crisis with leaders and gauging in a blame game after a wave of bombings that iraq the country thursday he comes only a few days after the pullout of u.s. troops it was the worst attack in months at least seventy two people dead nearly two hundred injured in a series of blasts across baghdad crisis talks between the country's political

leaders were canceled friday after a dispute in which prime minister nuri al maliki was blamed by the opposition for the violence and u.s. administration insists it left behind a stable country nine years after launching the invasion but joseph hoar a writer for the world socialist web site thinks the latest flare ups in the region are a product of the occupation. this is not a. you know securing iraq and giving it freedom it was about securing oil resources and in the process stoked sectarian tensions devastated the entire society and this is really the product of that you have different factions of the iraq elite who are battling over power over control over resources including particular oil contracts and it threatens to unravel into the 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

crisis facing iraqi politics in iraq is the site i mean look at what what this occupation has produced over one million people killed by some estimates thirty five percent of rocky children. living now is orphans definition of infrastructure. the entire society has been scarred by this occupation by this war . u.s. troop withdrawals leaving behind a country embittered by the occupation that's cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars as u.s. troops return home for the holidays for many the mood is far from joyful with suicide rates troublingly were on the rise among veterans artie's was war reports. being in this environment. it's killing us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants 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 detached and conflicted the laws of decency don't apply to soldiers in combat and when you go back to having to apply those laws 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 attempts at 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 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 they're back things happened in their families they were gone the situation they came to 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 campaigns such as army strong glorify life as a soldier and aim to entice america's young men and women to unless. the. average 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 east to to stick from washington this one are. for some veterans who struggle with life after their service and strive to face down that torment a small number every sport resorted to desperate measures as our team reports online now the story of one former soldier forced to pawn his medals to put food on the table all that and much more a click away at our team dot com. time to take a look now at some of the major events that shaped the year two thousand and eleven can the eyes of the our two correspondents covering them today we focus on the fatal plane crash that wiped out the entire jaroslaw to jaroslav a locomotive hockey team in russia sean thomas share some of the thoughts and memories that didn't make it into his reports.

you were hearing it on the radio in fact. it was just. a personal connection. to the teen. 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. to single much since i've been living and. i go every season and that's why it's painful. we were at the scene when it was pouring down rain it was in the middle of the day my classes were just. thousands of people came. as soon as we finished our live shot we saw this one. walking with two of his friends in this moment of shock in this very. 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 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 in 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 in the willingness for this team to go forward 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. and we'll continue our series of special reports where the correspondents look back on the euro stories that they've covered every day leading up to the new year here on our team and available at any time if you're curious at our team dot com. turkey has now accused france of genocide during its 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 five hundred forty five thousand euros and

a year in jail for offenders but still needs to be approved by the senate turkish protesters took to the streets of stand boy expressing their anger over the legislation turkey's already recalled its ambassador from france had halted military ties with paris more than fifteen nations recognize the slaughter of about one and a half million armenians but turkey denies charges of genocide pierre dulaine a 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 bill. 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 you know. so little political game is played by various political parties. there is historical debate genocide has not been done 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 historians it is not something that should be done and established by law. or better watch what you say especially if you're said to write in an oxford taxi authorities in the british city plan to install an audio and video surveillance system in every cab by twenty fifteen campaigners have called the city council decision a staggering invasion of privacy and claim people's rights will be violated artie's laura smith has more. 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 some who fear for their security late at night all 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. same. token taxi just like chad you pointed out. that 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.

let's remember this is not someone's front room this is not some of these bedroom this is the back of a taxi with a driver in the front seat who will be able to overhear any conversation but we're having with the past five 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. threats which exist that requires them to record not just video but the conversation of. passengers we simply don't accept that the force is great to go to war with everybody should be recorded indiscriminately rather than for example a public health system big 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. object to the blanket approach if people used.

is it going to be because. well the puzzle the mood. is it me. they may question. it. looks but city council doesn't think it's going to have any trouble pushing this measure through but privacy 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 in creech meant that the states prying eyes and is into innocent people's lives laura smith that. a russian soyuz spacecraft has docked with the international space station bringing a replacement crew to the i assess the docking took about three hours in the space

made from the rocket only i assess how finally met out the outgoing crew is busy giving the new hammers a tour around the station all the crew members are holding a video conference with families and top russian space three new members will spend five months in orbit conducting dozens of experiments but it's not all good news today as a russian satellite has plummeted back to earth after failing to reach orbit friday a soyuz booster blasted off from a cosmic home in central russia but it didn't take the meridian military communications probe to orbit official suspect a rocket failure to blame in that instance. 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 violence demonstrators demanded security forces step down after soldiers were caught beating female protesters and stripping and dragging one through the streets 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 head of next year's presidential elections. chinese riot police have fired tear gas to break up mass protests in a small town in southern china it's the fourth day of rallies against the construction of a new power station activists also say an existing coal fired power plant has contributed to a recent rise in cancer cases as well as heavy sea pollution in area the crowd demanding authorities release a number of their fellow demonstrators was locked in a standoff with police five people so far detained. and a little later on santa claus is coming to town our moscow team takes a look at the final preparations for christmas in the russian capital but first katie's up with the business update.

more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule the day. welcome to the business program. interest rate as information drops to the lowest level in decades the rising cut by a quarter of

a percentage point eight percent the government hopes cheap alliance will help business grow amid instability in the global economy a. look at the markets european stocks benefited from the coming from the u.s. . head of the christmas week and on the russian markets closed lower. just to no. end to the point seven percent. let's have a look at some individual. blue chips that close mixed today all major lou call those point four percent. has been in the red for much of the day i lost almost two percent on telecommunication provider. is among the top. seven on the whole percent of the comp mistake alexander which came so much i have seen much of paul wraps up this week. we do not see any signs of continuing christmas christmas rally while we can say that the first part of the

week was probably. trying to understand first of all these. last two days of the 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 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. but his biggest bank has made another step abroad and is purchased swiss bank s.l.b. commercial bank for almost eighty one million dollars from russia no major loophole . ground and use it to develop syndicated lending and trade

financing businesses in europe. 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. what would be the weakest part of those banks which loan to their own nurse and 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. russia's gas giant gazprom has to postpone plans to create its first electricity joint venture and western europe germany's second largest utility all w e says apologies

and to talks to set up the venture of the fairing to agree on a deal the j.v. will plan to operate power plants germany u.k. and the netherlands the talks started in the some us part of the art of hughie's plans to mitigate the costs of germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in ten years separately gas problem says it's considering taking part in up to five electricity projects involving area. and that's all the business news for now you can find more on our website. forward sasson business goodbye now.

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well. here's missions on technology to next generation places made from super strong cultural. lightweight building materials good health with the help of nuclear isotopes cleaner planet seems to be a revolutionary way to get rid of our growing landfills and a long list of militant russian invaders. seized the central. wealthy british style sign posts sometimes.