in a country of threat to british security. thank you for joining us at two o'clock here in moscow i'm karen with a look at your top headline at the moment thousands are gathered in central moscow to protest against this month's parliamentary election results the rally was organized by opposition groups who say the poll was rate artes and he said now i was at the scene. it's certainly fair to say that the head count of this saturday's rally beats that we saw two weeks ago at below plan 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 on to the streets of moscow 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's parliamentary 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 a far 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 accouterments 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 ms vega 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 medvedev a proposal about some mass reforms to russia's political system disease centralized power from moscow but also to create more of a representative 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 them more well known than others one of the most well known as parties themselves he is supported by washington's national endowment for democracy he wasn't as well received as reaks ago of course that might have something to do with the recent phone recording scandal in which a conversations you 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 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 next in the bar and he's really the rising star of the opposition he is an anti-corruption activist and 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 nirvana is his nationalist trends if you ever go and read his why 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 he called for a million people to come out onto the streets certainly there is a feeling that crowds will continue to come out until their demands are met. and we

have more from the russian capital for you all mine long on to our youtube channel for video from the heart of saturday's rally and you can get all the background on moscow's protest by heading to our web site that's our t.v. dot com. today. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to rule the day. thank you for joining us a serial mourns the victims of friday's twenty tax where forty four people were killed and more than one hundred fifty wounded syria's muslim brotherhood has claimed responsibility while the arab league works to put a peace plan into action sara furthur looks at how the tragedy has dampened the people's holiday spirit. 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 war it was a bloody tragic day the people of syria will never forget. this kind of here the capsule is usually brightly lit as christians who can succumb to 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. this year is totally different because of the situation in our country. the priests here at planning their own mark of respect for the.

people to. avoid the external. festivities but to go. there 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 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's. position the.

government. taxing killings to be met repeatedly with claim counter-claim an accusation you have to use two different. means to see who is more. to the truth one of the yeah big team will be attempting to cut through the rhetoric and discover his patient 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 hoping for and that's for the violence to be stopped the christmas celebrations going down this religious services will be happening people. again for being with their country. the.

tense situation in syria has made world headlines for over nine months now we have been one of the few foreign media channels allowed to cover the unrest in homes damascus and other parts of the country and fact it's one of the top ten events that shaped nearly a whole year of news on r.t. our correspondent us are silly i was in syria for much of the crisis and these are her firsthand recollections. 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 starting to flow again

we're 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 i think mostly for us is that we saw the kind of. diverse opinions on what was going on there was no clear two sides even 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 so he 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 us 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 how to stop 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 he was beaten novel 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 wholesome feel that they are angry at the protesters because their sons have been lost or fathers have been lost husbands have been lost so you can understand the point of view that they're coming from you from how console jer's kill other soldiers this is impossible whatever media says this is plainly lonely. and 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 was sets 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 israel or 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 they were just outside we didn't know whether they would come in and we asked there are interview are you scared he said you only die once. so the syrians are very i felt hospitable people but 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 is at the rally

that we went to it got pretty rough. our camera was approaching and so point. everywhere do you know 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 you can't get anything on film work here in the center of the syrian capital our lives together to show their support for the government is a far cry from the images we've been seeing in other cities around the country where there have been reporting out of the greater force of any government but some of those however want they get about where and this country whenever they'd be news about syria would never really be everything you suppose syria i would really pay attention and although everybody here say that i think that's correct i don't think that's or that's not 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 remembered everything that i had gathered and big look through it through that perspective rather than just what i see. and every day right up to the new year will bring you more personal reflections from the correspondents who cover the biggest stories of two thousand and eleven and still to come in the program a controversial goodbye just days after u.s. troops withdraw from iraq r t takes a look at the legacy that some say they have left behind. and so glowing from the success of its intervention in libya britain now turns its eye to another oil rich african state somalia is seen as a training ground for terrorists with the potential to incite extremism among young british muslims its fate is going to be decided at

a summit in london in february here's our she's laura smith. 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 six acts 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 equipment and money other main donations despite a tough economic situation at home there are around a 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 baghdad 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 uranium which the u.s. and other countries have had their eye on for years many points also to somalia's to teaching position presiding over a large parts of oil transport routes through the gulf of aden and usually fine when the military strategists are planning long term intervention somewhere. i'm looking at political march second the oil to gas one of the biggest. community around here that i represent most of whom are from the south but not all and they're not saying to me peace intervene they're saying can we please 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 me to oust gadhafi successful next stop. and if you feel like catching up on more news this christmas eve r.t. dot com is what you need here's what else is waiting for you online. social networking is reaching some pretty out scary places you wouldn't believe it but now the christmas tree in central avenue crane has its own twitter account why you'll find the answer on line plus. during the holidays a norad the north american aerospace defense command is on a mission to make sure all those christmas gifts reach their destinations by keeping santa under close surveillance.

and 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 the 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 our correspondent sean thomas reports. picking 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 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 baathist 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 well it is odd that they below and also the u.s. troop invasion of iraq in two thousand and three and the grave mistake 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 i said but in fact many here say it was the american mismanagement of iraq and that led to the rise of sectarian violence in the country people if you us who brings the us to iraq he said usa.

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 amnesty. because your mistake is a grave mistake and it affects you. based teach and also your future 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 john thomas our team. let's now take a look at some other news making headlines around the world first to nigeria. this is where 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 campaigning to implement strict sharia

law all across the country. yemen has been shaken by unrest as security forces fire on massed crowds killing ten and injuring dozens officers use guns tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators in the capital sunlamp they were demanding that former president ali abdullah saleh be tried for his long and violent crackdowns on anti-government protests when he listened salles thirty three year rule and ended last month when he handed over power to vice president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. also catholics and protestants all over the world are starting to celebrate christmas in the biblical town of bethlehem over one hundred twenty thousand visitors have gathered for a midnight mass at the church of the negativity a place where jesus is believed to have been born the seventy's are underway in the u.s. u.k. and europe but also in iran where the holiday is very important to the christian minority and in taiwan thousands gathered in the capital to take part in the city's

christmas parade with city officials incentive suits and fake snow helping to spread the holiday spirit. and if you're watching right now live pictures straight from rome in the vatican pope benedict of the sixteenth is leading celebrations with a traditional christmas mass the pope is addressing a congregation in st peter's cathedral and you can also see the latest feed streaming on our website our team dot com. twenty twelve is set to be the year of the presidential election as people in the u.s. russia france and south korea will be going to the polls and with millions yet to make their choice the question is what makes a good modern day leader maurie harmfulness asks people 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 so 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 who were honest with people absolutely 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 so they're in touch with people who is probably important for them to have come up having no money i mean just nelson mandela i mean you look at mary came from. i mean he understood what it was what it was like to have nothing thing goes probably all made him such a good leader of course for me it was a new a positive. or kennedy was was of one of the leader of my mind because you had this really man who was my vision was an easy 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. very complex and the management has been called in by a vase so show. it's totally change your mind over how to be the 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. in our latest edition of technology update the new super strong and ultra light material that's making its way into every day life and a tour of one of russia's high tech marvels that's coming up shortly but first on r t a recap of our main stories that's coming up next.

in bygone days sleds were vital to get around. but today they're more leisure than life line. one drives people to quit their modern lives and settle in remote woods. one finds them up to survive in the freezing cold. beginning in russia's nals discover the arctic circle on r.t.e.

. the least explored areas. and touched by none. surrounded by steep rock. case paintings on display for thousands of years. eastern science beyond the time go. on on sci. this was the plan that was responsible for causing the world's worst industrial disaster and now it had been abandoned in a condition where it had become

a source of pollution or the most recent study that was done shows that this water pollution and spreading. will continue to be more than hundred thousand be both. groups walking in effect the children see the children to be ten times more likely to be born with birth defects in children and the rest of the country. will receive as little as five hundred dollars for lifelong injuries. unpunished. whether you dive from high or to the depths. touch the power of the wind or drift in the beauty of the currents.

being well prepared is a must and if you're lucky. you'll never forget your experience we only need a screen that's going to be heading. into a sea of blue and below the ice on our team. thank you for joining us on this saturday two thirty here in moscow we go now to a quick recap of your headlines thousands of turned out to rally in the russian capital and a second mass protest the largest in yet against last month's parliamentary poll result the opposition claim the vote was rigged and they want to rerun while the government has promised political reform. in syria the festive holiday spirit is broken by a new round of violence in damascus that leads dozens dead.