ten pm in the russian capital i matras 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 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 is 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 abraham a lucia things 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 gulf states where. even a constitution of brutality or 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 dependent or somewhat untie imperialist about democracy well this doesn't come across to. observer as honestly it was 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 g.m. has said we are going along with our reforms on our agenda and our 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. and sounds and see that has been instigates. so it's grown 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 international monitors will have their hands full trying to put a peace plan into action. the advanced arab league team is now in damascus they have of course to pave the way for the observer mission that is expected at the end of the month they're going to be looking at the government's promises to implement that peace plan now of course many people here in the country extremely skeptical about whether or not any real change is going to come from that arab league observers mission entering here a big concern is whether they're going to be able to cover enough ground to get to the places where the coltan treated 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 of violence breaking out at civilians us in fact they seemed if anything to being creasing of course 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 of both sides leaving really increasingly increasingly bloody and 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 force 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. international opinion remains 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 and 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. to stay with us this hour still to come latest in our special feature focusing on the events of two thousand and eleven this time artie's sean thomas speaks about the extreme grief and pain he witnessed when covering the plane crash that killed the entire lokomotiv 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 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. with this is. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . the iraqi government is plunging deeper into crisis with leaders in gauging in a blame game after a wave of bombings that iraq the country thursday in trusty comes only a few days after the pullout of u.s. troops it was the worst attack in months and 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 is sure a writer for the world socialist web site thinks the latest flare ups in the region are a product of the occupation. it was not about you know securing iraq and giving it freedom it was about securing resources and in the process. so sectarian tensions devastated the entire society and this is really the product that you have different factions of the iraqi elite 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 occupation 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 withdrawals leaving behind a country in bitter 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 liz wahl reports . being in this environment. it's killing us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants i am 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 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

a. 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. in time unless. that's not the. average time 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 liz want. 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 are to reports online you have a story of one former soldier forced upon 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 through the eyes of the our two correspondents covering that 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 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 had happened. this was much bigger than a plane crash it was much bigger than russia it was a worldwide event. as you got to jaroslav all 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 out of the scene and 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 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 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 to forty five thousand euros any year in jail for offenders but still needs

to be approved by the senate turkish protesters took to the streets of on her and instead 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 here your alaina 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 through the lower house that i meant and then it has to go to the senate missed probably it would not go to the senate before the presidential election and maybe it would die out you know. so little political gain least played by various political parties. there is historical debate the 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 establish an historical truth is that what the story is it is not something that should be done and established by law. or better watch what you say especially if you're set to write it in oxford taxi authorities in the british city plan to install an audio and video surveillance system in every cab by two thousand and fifteen campaigners have called the city council's 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 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 too 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 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 chatty. puts a lot of pressure on people who behave. day and night recording will stop when the car engine switched on and and thirty minutes after it's turned off the council says footage will only be available to police for ongoing investigations i don't believe that it will be this

let's remember this is not someone's front room this is not somebody bedroom this is the back of a taxi with a driver in the front seat who will be a able to overhear any conversation but you know having a 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. threats which exist that requires them to record not just video but also the conversation of passengers. we simply don't accept that the fuss is great enough to warrant every part of the conversation being recorded indiscriminately rather than for example a panic button system being installed and it treats everybody as potential criminals rather 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 hours are not working is a camera still going to be rolling them because they're not going to want family and friends filmed well the puzzle being what it would. whoa that is you know for them it me. to them a question why are we monitored there is always a sort of fear that you know. well it's 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 that complaint with an independent data protection body to try and stop what they see as the creeping in creech mint at the state's prying eyes and ears into innocent people's life norris may see that. a russian soyuz spacecraft has docked with the international space station bringing a replacement crew to the s.s.

the docking took about three hours in the space many from the rocket and the i assess how finally met out the outgoing crews busy giving the newcomers a tour of the station all the crew members are holding a video conference with families and top russian space station 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 drone in central russia but didn't take the meridian military communications probe to orbit officials 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 ahead of next year's presidential elections. chinese riot police fired tear gas to break up mass protests in a small town and 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 the area the crowd . manning authorities release a number of their fellow demonstrators was locked in a standoff with police five people so far to take. 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 he's up with the business update.

today violence is once again flared up. and these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. operations through the day. welcome to the business program must take interest rate as inflation drops lowest level in decades the rising cup by a quarter of

a percentage point eight percent the government hopes cheap alliance will help business grow and made instability in the global economy. that's a look at the markets european stocks benefited from the coming from the u.s. . the typical head of the christmas 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 mics today all major lou call those point four percent. has been in the red for much of the day and lost almost two percent on telecommunication provider. is among the top of the polls the government would take around seven on a whole percent of the comp mistake alexander which i have seen much of. this week's. quite calm 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. 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. bush's biggest bank has made another step abroad as part just west bank big commercial banks almost eighty one million dollars from russia no major loophole. to use its own ground and use it

to develop syndicated lending and trade finance and business is you. 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 patience he says some of the nine hundred banks currently operating in russia would not be able to meet the new standards of liquidity and lending to affiliates all of the biggest problems in the russian banking system. what would be the weakest part of those banks which 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. process gas giant gazprom has to postpone plans to create its first electricity joint venture europe germany's second largest utility all w e says apologies and to talks to set up the

venture off to failing to agree on a deal. with plant to operate power plant u.k. and the level of the talks started in the summer as part of the art of hughie's plans to mitigate the cost 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. a muzzle the business news for now you can find out more on our website oh is he dot com a forward slash and business goodbye now.

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world looking for new year's wishes on technology updates next generation places made from super strong. lightly building materials good health a little old nuclear isotopes a cleaner planet thanks to the revolutionary ways to get rid of our growing landfills and a long list of russian innovators. the century. wealthy british style sun it's time to.

market. is going to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to conjure reports. ten thirty pm in moscow the zero r.t. headlines and 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 the effort to mediate a peace deal with. tensions 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 but government leaders putting the blame for the surge in violence on on the.