a lot see tonight just a second mass protest in the russian capital against the parliamentary poll results . moscow's biggest rally in recent history has come and gone without incident as thousands came onto the streets of the capital to protest against what they call a rigged vote and they want a rerun join me now and he's now wait for more details in central moscow. in syria all people want for christmas in the new year is peace but there's no festive mood in the as the latest round of violence leaves dozens dead. and a new mission for a new year fueled by his successes in libya david cameron reveals plans for involvement in oil rich somalia now describing the country as a threat to british security.

live from moscow this is r.t. welcome it's good of you company it's eight pm here now my name is kevin know it first thousands gathered in central moscow today to protest against this month's parliamentary election results the mass rally was organized by opposition groups who claim the vote was rigged. it was at the scene of the demonstration. it's certainly fair to say that the head count of this saturday's rally beats that we saw two weeks ago at but last night as square official figures we're hearing from the interior ministry is that thirty thousand opposition is saying some hundred thousands but certainly tens of thousands of people came onto the streets of moscow today to call for free and fair elections you had lots of different political groups here people that just came out and say they're not part of any political

group that in fact they don't want this to be politicized they want to just come out and have their demands made and what they're demanding is a rerun of december as part of the meant to revote we saw several different faces of the opposition but also some celebrities it's fair to say we will procure of who of course is a relatively new politician who's running for president in march showed up he didn't speak to the crowd like was expected but he did go around and really talk to people it looked a little bit from afar like some kind of campaigning really and what he did say was that if he becomes president he would dissolve this this state duma and call for new elections we also saw former finance minister alexei couture in speak to the crowd he spoke officially on stage and he called for people who were involved in the so-called of vote rigging to be brought to justice and calls for snap elections in terms of the parliament well as soon as we saw protests which happened almost immediately after the vote some of them sanctions others unsanctioned we heard reaction from both president medvedev and prime minister putin saying that protests

are encouraged in terms of people coming out and voicing their demands and that's important for russia's political development and important that people are politically active as long as it stays within the law but we also just two days before this rally heard from president made very good a proposal about some mass reforms to russia's political system disease centralized power from moscow but also to create more of a representative poor proportional system in the russian parliament there are a lot of different political parties and organizations that have been coming out to . these protesters not really leaders there are faces of the opposition some of the more well known than others one of the most well known as parties themselves he is supported by washington's national endowment for democracy and he spoke to the crowd today he wasn't as well received as two weeks ago of course that might have something to do with the recent phone recording scandal in which conversations he had on his phone were leaked to life news and there you could blatantly here and rudely speaking about other opposition leaders in fact he was booed

a bit by some of the people standing in the crowds perhaps because he called some of the protesters hampsters probably the biggest speaker of the day was the next day not by me he's really the rising star of the opposition he's an anti-corruption activist well known for his russian blogging very well known here in russia and becoming more and more well known in the west you certainly become a star of the media i think it's fair to say he was detained at one of the earlier protests after the elections and stayed in detention for fifteen days so this was the first time he spoke publicly after being released and he was very well received well you don't hear a lot about never know if he's nationalists trends if you ever go and read his wife can read about some of his movements and his words what he's calling for is for more and more people to come out to these next protests that are being planned today he called for a million people to come out onto the streets and certainly there is a feeling that crowds will continue to come out until their demands are met and though in this report this are now reporting for us so now we're closely following

developments in the russian capital online to log on for you tube channel to see video footage from the site of the valley's calling for new transparent election results to get all the background about moscow's protests by adding to a web site as well dot com. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images and seeing from the streets of canada. showing corporations rule the day. this is our city and still to come by the scenes of the big news. after the interview was finished they all came up to us and said get us on camera we want to see what we feel. it was one of the few foreign correspondents allowed to report

from syria if you look back at the anger in the fear that she encountered. but before that staying with syria the country mourns the victims of friday's terror attacks forty four people were killed and more than one hundred fifty wounded in twin suicide bombings in damascus syria muslim brotherhoods claimed responsibility while the arab league works to put a peace plan into action r.t. sara first brings you up to date. chaos and confusion in damascus as the capital which until now has remained largely spared from the violence starts to feel the effects of an escalating conflict. the first day of the league's work was a bloody tragic day the people of syria will never forget. this time live here the capsule is usually brightly lit it is christians here comes the ten percent of the population get ready to celebrate christmas but these scenes of devastation are

a harsh contrast and a stark reminder of just how much the country has changed in the past nine months. last year to christmas we used to wish house and pray for people in other countries that were going through hard times with war we never thought that this year it would be us. this year is totally different because of the situation in our country . the priests here planning their own mark of respect for the coast. of syria our people to avoid the external signs of the beauty's but to go. there when really feels like celebrating anyway when the country hospitals are full of casualties the government claims it's fighting arms militant groups sponsored from abroad the while the opposition regionally marked by

its insistence on peaceful protests it's now been joined by growing numbers of army defectors and has become increasingly arms on the months quite downs by the government and this violence spreads its prevailing extremely hard to know exactly who is responsible for what. you have for instance. from somebody who is not. the government claims it is the position the president claims it's his government. taxing killings have been met repeatedly with claim counter-claim an accusation. you know we have to use two different movies to use the two in every t.v. . we don't turn in means to see who is more. to the truth the arab league team will be attempting to cut through the rhetoric

and discover his version of events is most accurate they many remain skeptical about how much they'll be able to achieve but there's one thing that everyone here is shaping for and that's for the violence to be stopped the christmas celebration . down this religious services will be happening. again for the with the country there are the. the permanent members of the u.n. security council. to act on syria russia wants a balanced resolution calling on all sides to lay down arms but the u.s. and its allies seem committed to pinning the blame on president assad's regime political analyst over golan just thinks the west has a very specific agenda for syria's future. the reason they would want to provoke regime change is to put in place a government that would be friendly to us and its allies interests and of course to enable those interests to control strategic resources in syria and throughout the

region which is the same case that we saw in libya i mean the whole justification of protecting the population was really just a front to be able to overthrow and assassinate really moammar gadhafi and put in place a government that would be friendly to the u.s. we have to remember that right after the obama administration which drew troops from iraq some of those were relocated to the border of syria from jordan and in preparation of arming this conflict and possibly engaging in it as well and i think that these terrorist attacks are part of that or part of maybe a justification to say hey there needs to be a stronger military presence from abroad in order to prevent further military conflict internally in the country that could result in the deaths of so called innocent civilians. in syria's dominated world headlines since march one of the top ten events that show a whole year of news to you as well. as spend

a lot of time reporting from syria these are her thoughts about the crisis. well when we went to syria it was sometime in october and the situation was getting very tense there so our flight arrived at the around three in the morning so you can imagine the surprise and the shock of security forces when three foreign journalists arrive at a time when there was a media bad international journalists there but we're here in the center of the assyrian capital you can see behind me traffic is just about started to flow again going into the city damascus was rather peaceful it was quiet although very tense still because everybody knows what was going on in the country. and what's interesting mostly for us is that we saw the kind of. diverse

opinions on what was going on there was no clear. there were more than two sides it was not i want the regime or i don't want the regime. and there was one time you were interviewing a young man and he was rather critical of the government gave his point of view and what you didn't see on the camera is that there was a group of men around him and listening to what he was saying. and afterwards after the interview was finished they all came up to us and said get us on camera we want to see what we feel. and then we also spoke to those people who were protesting specifically those who were on the streets in that's about twenty minutes outside of damascus one of the guys that we interviewed he actually disappeared for two days and he said he was held by security forces. after

forty eight hours of detention and torture they took all of my money and belongings and threw me out into the. st. we also spoke with soldiers' families those who have been killed and you can't haul so feel that they are angry at the protesters because their sons have been lost fathers have been lost husbands have been lost and you can't understand the point of view that they're coming from how console jer's killed their soldiers this is impossible whatever media says this is plainly lonely. speaking about fear tell you one incident we were supposed to interview one of the leaders of the national coordination council the local opposition. the interview was set and he when we called him he said i might have to cancel because we there were security forces we think who were at the office and they wrote some threats on the wall. we had to our fixer who

translated what it meant. it said you're working for the u.s. we're going to kill you. and so they were there were threats at the members of the n.c.c. particularly the leader. that was a scary time because we were just outside we didn't know whether they would come in and we asked their our interview are you scared he said you only die once. so the syrians are very i felt hospitable people but when when it comes to political talk when it comes to expressing a political view in a crowd it can really get heated they would. jostle at the rally that we went to it got pretty rough. and so point. every detail but that is your job you go in there he try to get you try to do what

you can to try to film as much as you can try to put it in as much context and we had to tell sometimes. to tell people please calm down otherwise we can't get anything on film heard here on the steps of the syrian capital where the outlook gathered to show their support for the government it ended up far cry from the images we've been seeing in all those cities that a country where there have been reported lots of specific areas or said to be a government protesters however what they do about it where and this country whenever they would be to use about syria would never be everything you suppose syria i would really pay attention and all the everybody here say that big that's correct i don't think that's or got started as precise as i think it was so i'd like to think that because of my trip there and my experience there. that when i see something about syria i don't take it at face value i remember everything that i had gathered and would look through it through that perspective rather than just

what i see. every day right up to the new year will bring you more personal reflections from the correspondents who cover the biggest stories of the year you can also see them on our web site r t v dot com is what else is waiting on line for you to right now know your rights the city of los angeles is pushing people detained in the occupy l.a. protests now to take classes about the first amendment to learn the proper way to exercise free speech. also a live event here live footage you're seeing now straight from bethlehem holstein the biggest catholic event to celebrate christmas in palestine you got was latest pictures if you want to see more of them as well streaming right now on our web site r t v dot com.

still on the apparent success of his intervention campaign in libya britain is now turning its side to another all rich african state somalia is seen as a training ground for terrorists with the potential to incite extremism among young muslims and its fate is now going to be decided at the summit in london in february correspondent laura smith reports. in the words of prime minister david cameron somalia is a failed state that directly threatens british interests his solution options ranging from humanitarian aid right through to military intervention and reports suggest that in the new year following the perceived success of the libyan campaign in government circles somalia could be the next target for u.k. forces newspapers as saying that the royal air force could be sent to help african union troops to support the weak u.s. backed transitional government's equipment and money other main donations despite

a tough economic situation. there around one hundred thousand somalis living in the u.k. making up one of the largest muslim groups according to m i five somalia is the native terrorists training ground where british residents from a variety of backgrounds pakistan bag that dash yemen go to study jihad the risk is that they then come back to the u.k. and carry out terrorist attacks there's also the threats of piracy and the kidnapping of aid workers and tourists but crucially somalia also has boston gas reserves and other natural resources including the rainy of which the u.s. and other countries have had their eye on for years has many points also to somalia is to teach it position presiding over a large parts of oil transport routes through the gulf of aden you usually find when the military strategists are planning long term intervention somewhere. i'm

looking at political map second the oil or gas one of the biggest suit is a huge somali community round here. most of whom are from the north and they're not saying to me into very. calmly piece have support to get a functioning system of government and. so you see this as a direct result of the perceived success by the government of the campaign in libya operation l r me to oust gadhafi six cesspool next stop somalia. coming up a controversial goodbye just days after us for withdrew from a blackout t. takes a look at the legacy that some say they've left behind. use in brief from around the world before the first nigeria there are at least sixty one people have been killed in days of unrest in the northeastern part of the country members of the radical muslim group boko haram clashed with security forces in

a fierce gun battle people living near the city's central mosque were asked to leave before armed soldiers moved tanks into the neighborhood the recent string of clashes began on thursday with boko haram come paining to implement strict sharia law across the country. at least ten people have been killed in yemen after security forces opened fire on protesters in the capital building thirty were injured and the fisheries used guns tear gas and water against a protest and some are they were gathered to demand that former president ali abdullah saleh be prosecuted for human rights abuses well he was in power and it is thirty three year rule last month handing over power to his vice president in exchange for complete immunity from prosecution. iraq's vice president has said the government was behind thursday's series of bombings that killed dozens in baghdad terry go high shimmy claim such a large attack was impossible without some kind of help from the authorities he fled to iraq's kurdish region after an arrest warrant was issued against him for

terror charges at least sixty eight people were killed in baghdad and they buy multiple car and roadside bombs. the violence comes just days after u.s. troops said goodbye to iraq nine years after the invasion began over one hundred thousand iraqi civilians and thousands of american soldiers lost their lives in a war that. last america a trillion dollars now many iraqis say the warm is a mistake and they're sending that very message clearly to us lead as a correspondent sean thomas reports. packing up to head home it may be easy to overlook the total costs of war at least one hundred fourteen thousand iraqi civilians killed as well as four and a half thousand american soldiers millions displaced from their homes not to mention a one trillion dollars financial burden still the former occupiers leave behind some words of encouragement i can say that with confidence that in the next twenty

or fifty years iraq will be a leader here in the in the gulf region that rivals any country inside of the gulf region i think that iraq now is a safe and secure environment it's not a safe and secure is as it should be or it will be but it's it's progressing very well the american occupation of iraq saw the fall of the balance regime the capture and execution of deposed leader saddam hussein and the implementation of a democratic government but now nearly nine years later is the country better off the ladies are that they below and also the u.s. troop invasion of iraq in two thousand and three and their grievances think he committed made the situation here worse there are so many mistakes committed by the u.s. military leadership especially in managing the civilian aspects here is how to negative effect because. in fact many here say it was the american mismanagement of iraq and that led to the rise of sectarian violence in the country all people if you us who

brings the three of us to iraq he said us a. whole damage to the infrastructure of iraq he said. so i think. we are american must cooperate in order to. this. culture. hits. between two peoples the timeline for u.s. troop withdrawal was set in two thousand and eight and while the obama administration initially tried to extend the deadline the official transfer of power came sixteen days ahead of schedule on december sixteenth two thousand and eleven right now the u.s. and iraqi governments are working on a new type of diplomatic relations building a new type of trust if you will but now the next step is in the hands of the iraqi government to move the country forward as america's influence waned political infighting and sectarian divisions in the iraqi parliament has diminished as well

giving iraqis hope for a strong future but as iraq prepares to move past this dark chapter they have a message for their former occupiers to our friends america that the police don't another atomistic and because it will stick is a great mistake and it affects you. but as teach and also the future of relations and friends are few right now in a region in which america's reputation lies and friends in the eyes of many in iraq sean thomas r t. so twenty twelve is almost here and is said to be the year of the presidential election as the us russia france and south korea will all go to the polls with millions yet to make their choice the question is what makes a good modern day leader new york resident laurie oftenest gauge depayin on the streets of the big apple.

important elections will be held in many countries in two thousand and twelve what's it going to take to be a good leader in today's world this week let's talk about that what do you think is the most important quality for a world leader to have right now just empathy for what's going on right now just the inability to be able to be flexible just with the american people the people the world and a lot of patience i equate intelligence with humor. i mean say oh yeah a quick mind do you think that sense of humor would be appealing in a world leader think it's an international way of speaking you know everybody gets it and everybody likes it that circumstances are controlled all the countries so somebody step up and take the reins you know would you follow someone that was strong like that even if you didn't necessarily believe yes yes they're true leader no we're honest with people is having the ability to lead people more important

than having the intelligence or the right kind of policies. yeah i would say it is because you have to have a whole team of people that are actually implementing your work so you have to be able to provide that process for them you know is it important for them to have money so that they understand how it works or is it important for them to not have so much money that they're in touch with people i think it's probably important for them to have come up having no money i mean just nelson mandela i mean you look from ended up i mean he understood what it was what it was like to have nothing thing that's probably what made him such a good leader of course for me it was a new a positive. kennedy was was of one the leader of my mind because you had this really man who was my vision was and he's now but he was a man who really wants to lead nations to the future do you think it's possible in today's world or is it too different

a time now than it was in the path of sort of this totally different because of global war it is a totally very complex and not easy to manage met us including by have a social. networking is totally change your mind over how to leave a people no matter what qualities we'd like to see in the new world leaders of two thousand and twelve let's just hope we aren't too disappointed in who they turn out to be. coming up soon as our programs continue special edition of the on the money program this month asking how good are russians at saving their cash and with the russian consumer market expand in the coming years all the money on the air very soon after i've updated the headlines for you live from moscow in just about two and a half minutes time thanks for being with us.

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