tonight a second mass protest in the russian capital against the parliamentary poll result . 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 to vote and they want a rerun join me now and he's now wait for more details in central moscow. in syria people want for christmas in the new year is peace but there's no festive mood in the air is the latest round of violence leaves dozens dead. and new mission for a new year fueled by his successes in libya david cameron reveals plans for involvement in the oil rich somalia describing the country is a stretch to british security.

live from moscow this is r.t. it's nine pm moscow time my name's kevin owen in the top story for you thousands gathered in central moscow to protest against this month's parliamentary election results the mass rally was organized by opposition groups who claim the vote was rigged artesian this now 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 have 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 mentoring vote we saw several different faces of the opposition but also some celebrities it's fair to say 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 alexey khujand speak to the crowd he spoke officially on stage and he called for people who were involved in the so-called vote rigging to be brought to justice and called for a snap elections in terms of the parliament well as soon as we saw protests which happened in almost immediately after the vote some of them sanctions others unsanctioned we heard reaction from both president reagan 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 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 party's names of i 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 hear him rudely speaking about other opposition leaders in fact he was booed of it by some

of the people standing in the crowds perhaps because he called some of the protesters hamster's probably the biggest speaker of the day was next in the biden he's the really the rising star of the opposition i 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 you 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. but isn't this an hour they were closely following the developments in the russian capital online to lowballed where you tube channel you see the full video footage

from the site of the rallies calling for these new transparent elections you girls go background as well about moscow's protests on our website for the cover there out to go home. more news today violence has once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets and canada. trying to corporations throughout the day. you're watching r.t. coming up behind 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 artie's test priscilla was one of the few foreign correspondents allowed to report from syria she looks back at the anger and the fear she counted there. but before that

staying with syria the country mourns the victims of friday's terror attacks forty four were killed and more than one hundred fifty wounded in twin suicide bombings in damascus syria's muslim brotherhood claimed responsibility while the arab league works to put a peace plan into action r.t. sarah firth reports. 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 but. the first day of the league's work was a bloody tragic day the people of syria will never forget these terrorists this time of year 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 at christmas we used to wish health 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 history beauties but to go. no one really feels like celebrating anyway when the country's hospitals are full of casualties the government claims it's fighting militant groups sponsored from abroad meanwhile the opposition originally marked by its insistence on peaceful protest it's now been joined by growing numbers of army

defectors and has become increasingly arms on the months of quite downs by the government and this violence spreads its prevailing extremely hard to know exactly who is responsible for what. you have. constructed from somebody who is not. the government claims it is a position. to oppose and claims the government. taxing killings have been met repeatedly with claim counter-claim an accusation you know we have to use two different views on every t.v. we don't have. we don't turn as a 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 taping for and that's for the violence to be stopped the christmas celebration thing down this yeah the religious services will be happening. again for the with their country there are. the permanent members of the u.n. security council are still a dogs over syria russia wants a balanced resolution calling on all sides to lay down arms but the u.s. and its allies seem committed to putting the blame on president assad's regime political analyst david 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 interest to control strategic resources in syria and throughout the

region which is the same case that we saw in libya i mean that the whole justification of protecting the population was really just a front to be able to overthrow and assassinate really hard out cut off the and put in place a government that would be friendly to the u.s. they have to remember that right after the obama administration with drew troops from iraq to 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 the unrest in syria's dominated world headlines since march that's one of the top to events indeed that showed nearly a whole year of news to you as well. as by the lot of time reporting from syria some of 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 three in the morning so you can imagine the surprise. when three foreign journalists arrive at a time when there was a media bad international journalist there will. be a syria 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 a 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 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 wholesale 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 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 lawyer. speaking about fear look out tell you one incident we were supposed to interview one of the leaders of the national coordination council the local opposition. the interview with sets and he when we called him he said i might have to cancel because. 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 f.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 forth. ever do you know but that is your job you go in there she try to get you try to do what you can to try to film as much as you cat 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 show their support for the government it was a far cry from the images we've been seeing in other cities that the country where there have been reporting lots of specific areas or said to be a government protesters however what they do about it where in this country whenever they would be to use about syria we're never going to be everything you suppose syria i would really pay attention and bother everybody here and say i think that's correct i don't think that's or got stopped 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 with through that perspective rather than just what i see. test of sin of them

a colleague. up to the new year will bring you more personal reflections of the correspondents who cover the biggest stories of the year you can also see them on our website as well r.t. dot com while you have heard these stories also waiting on line for you if you've got a minute know your rights the city of los angeles is pushing people detained in the occupy l.a. protests to take classes know about the first amendment to learn the proper way to exercise free speech also live pictures live events this is the latest coming through now from bethlehem continue the biggest catholic event to celebrate christmas in palestine we've also got the latest pictures as well that were streaming again online still tenuously dot com if you want to check more of what's happening.

spurred on by the apparent success of his intervention campaign in libya britain is now turning its side to another oil african rich state somalia is seen as a training ground for terrorists with the potential to incite extremism one british muslims and his fate's going to be decided summit in london in february and correspondent laura 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 a report suggested in the new year following the perceived six acts of the libyan campaign in government circles somalia could be the next target u.k. forces newspapers is saying that the royal air force could be sent to help african union troops to support the weak u.s. backs transitional government equipment and money other may. despite

a tough economic situation. there are 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 latest terrorist training ground where british residents from a variety of backgrounds pakistan baghdad dash and 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 which the u.s. and other countries have had their eye on for years many points also to somalia is to teach position presiding over a large part of oil transport routes through the gulf of aden and usually following

military strategists are planning long term intervention some way. to gas one of the biggest because a huge somali community around here. most of whom are from. saying to me. can we please have support to get a functioning system of government and. some see this as a direct result of the perceived success by the government of the campaign in libya operation. successful next stop somalia. coming up a controversial goodbye u.s. troops from iraq takes a look at the legacy that's. left behind. wrapping up more world news before that from around the globe first to nigeria there at least sixty one people have been killed in days of unrest now in the northeastern part of the country members of the

radical muslim group boko haram clashed with. forces in a fierce gun battle people living near the city's central mosque are also asked to leave before armed soldiers move tanks into the neighborhood the recent string of clashes began on thursday with boko haram campaigning to implement strict sharia law or across the country staying in africa a governor's been shaken by under arrest as security forces fire on massed clouds killing ten injuring dozens of us is used guns tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators in the capital sanaa they are demanding that former president alley a dollar sell a be tried of his long and violent crackdowns on anti-government protesters are you still in power so is thirty three year rule ended last month when he handed over power to his vice president in exchange for completed nudity from prosecution. iraq's vice president has said the government was behind thursday a series of bombings that killed dozens of people in baghdad. meat claimed such a large scale 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 the sixty eight year old of baghdad on thursday by a multiple roadside bomb. and the violence comes just days after u.s. troops said goodbye to iraq of course nine years after the invasion began over one hundred thousand iraqi civilians and thousands of american soldiers lost their lives in a war that cost america a trillion dollars now many iraqis say the war was a mistake and they're sending that message very clearly to u.s. leaders 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 one hundred thousand american soldiers millions displaced from their homes not to mention a one trillion dollars financial burden still the former occupiers leave behind a some words of encouragement i can say it with confidence. 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 baathist regime the capture and execution of deposed leader saddam hussein and the implementation of a democratic government but now nearly nine years later these are the country better off well it is i that they below and also the u.s. troop invasion of iraq and three thousand and three hundred grievances think he committed made the situation here worse there are so many mistakes committed by the u.s. military leadership especially in managing civilian us banks 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 then brings the. he said us as. a whole being given damage to the infrastructure of iraq he said. so i think. we on american must cooperate in order to. put up this. culture that hate. 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 have 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 mistake and because you're mistake is a great mistake and it affects you. but as teach and also your future relations and friends are few right now in a region in which america's reputation lies in friends in the eyes of many in iraq sean thomas r.t. . so twenty twelve is almost here with us said it's set to be the year of the presidential election as the u.s. russia france and south korea all go to the polls with millions yet to make that choice the question is what makes a good modern day leader new york resident or office gauged opinion all about that on the streets of the big guy.

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 an ability be able to be flexible 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 i think it's an international way of speaking you know everybody gets it and everybody likes it circumstances or control all the countries. take the reins you know would you follow someone that was strong like that even if you didn't necessarily believe. their true leader know were 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 though 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. i mean. i mean you look. i mean he understood what it was what it was like to have nothing else probably what made him such a good leader of course for me it was a new. york kennedy was the leader of my mind because you had to really man. my vision was and what 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 the management has been called in by a of a so show. it's totally change your mind over how to leave the people no matter what qualities we'd like to be 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. all the way very soon all financial girl must cause or expose of the u.s. and u.k. looking for ways to continue to cut the debt levels before an update of the day's news headlines here on our team from moscow thanks for being with us.

wealthy british style. writers. market. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy

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