they're watching our weekly news review on kerry johnston welcome to the program tens of thousands of people passed in moscow on saturday and other peaceful protest over the edge of the rigged parliamentary election police say thirty thousand gathered in essential square the organizers and numbers much. rally echoed one held two weeks ago and the message remained the same to hold another election present a better addressed the protesters in his annual state of the union speech promising widespread political reforms some of which are already under way at the union that state duma. reports. the time for change has come. people are tired of not being able to promptly solve

the most pressing issues people are tired of having their interests ignored speaking at his fourth and final state of the union address the president listed a set of proposals which have already been deemed to be sweeping political reform but he wants to change the rules for the registration of political parties as well as for taking porting elections in fact a total ground up rebuild of the whole electoral system today governors in russia are up pointed directly by the president they used to be elected in the ninety's but this was cancelled in two thousand snell the meeting with wants to bring the vote back as part of the move to vertical eyes power in russia it took over a decade to build to the current political system of power but now russia's regions are told it's time to start gaining more independence from moscow the president's proposed reforms will also hit the stay duma which will include two hundred twenty five deputies. independently elected within their own tutorial constituency and

when it comes to new parties in order to register political parties need to gather at least ten thousand approval signatures and have representatives in over a half of the eighty nine regions the new initiative is to reduce this figure to five hundred which should give the green light for more political forces the president's speech followed the recent parliamentary election which caused widespread discontent among the public the biggest brutus rally since the collapse of the u.s.s.r. had been taking place across the country with tens of thousands of russians shouting out accusations of fraud and other way lieschen over fifty criminal cases have been opened looking into the allegations while the results from more than twenty polling stations have been cancelled russia has enormous potential enormous human capital and almost physical capital and has the potential to become a world leader and they would like the spirit of the educated people would like to

play a part in that the president praised the legal right to express opinion warned any attempts to manipulate and provoke the people will not be accepted up with him when you know it's going to then that we won't allow extremists or probably caters to draw society into their shady enterprises we won't allow interference from outside in our internal affairs russia needs democracy not chaos but getting back to the reforms to the need to be another proposal concerning his own post as well in order to run for president independent candidates have to gather at least two million approval signatures from voters three hundred thousand that's the new figure currently being proposed which will most likely widen competition for russia's top job even though the president doesn't plan to run for a second term in office it doesn't mean the reforms will be forgotten the meeting needed if he's aiming for the prime minister's seat if he wins the upcoming

presidential vote in mark. is going to have already moscow and. volunteers struck the syrian capital on friday when twin car bombings killed forty four people in damascus the suicide attacks are being blamed on al qaida of the opposition says it was staged by the governments to justify its crackdown on and t.v. protesters the arab league has started its mission to put a plan into action syria remains under growing western and arab league economic pressure but it's the people who flew the plane first reports from damascus. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus has remained largely sheltered from the conflict right here in the bustling sun so it seems like it's business as usual as one says sets in the winds of change have begun to feel a little stronger the arab league's imposed tough economic sanctions the effects of which have you felt even had in a poor area of damascus interact and her family struggling to make ends meet

her son here has learning difficulties fava beans for a living but he barely makes one hundred fifty syrian pounds a day and three dollars to support him and his wife. now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of with shortages the economic sanctions driving the price up. there last products available and the prices are pushed higher there's been fights over gas we've been trying to manage by cutting back as much as we can sometimes when we can't afford it which is don't eat the economic situation in syria was one of the areas president had been seen to be making some progress be it slowly that for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity block financial transactions fuel shortages and blackouts have become the norm and this

could be even the financial times ahead. because of the economic sanctions people rushed to stockpile fuel and gas just in case people are a little bit afraid of the fact that water or gas might run out and this is why you see these queues this in place by the arab league it is hate the sanctions would fulfill the government's hand when it came to ending the violence in the country but inside syria at the moment many feel it every day people who are being punished economic sanctions still. thinking. that he she is not the one here they. have become part of the day life for many people here in syria and the first ping from the arab league will be paving the way for an observer mission to at the end of the month much opposition they remain skeptical about whether that too will bring about any change to those calls up in the west of the conflict areas change can come and they meant to seeing some parity of toothy families like finding life

under the sanctions increasingly desperate search. damascus. russia is supporting the arab league's mission in syria but attempts to get official backing by the un security council were blocked by some western members was because ambassador to the u.n. says their objections could be a barrier to securing peace it's a straightforward text. of commendation and support and appreciation of the efforts of the arab league. a pretty straightforward. expression of intention of that it will help to put an end to violence unfortunately i can tell you that the number of members of the security council objected to hold up this is a little strange one of the difficulties we encounter in working on the security council because i would try to do something positive will inevitably be met with all sorts of concerns about balance why didn't you do this why didn't you look at

that and it brings us to square one in the entire conversation for the arab league's observer mission to damascus although syria is membership of the organization being suspended but jordan based professor and journalist. these the league should not be lecturing another arab country. talking about reforms in syria especially when this kind of talk is coming from arab gulf states. even a constitution of. 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 on time imperialist about democracy but that's what the syrian regime has said we are going along with our reforms on

our agenda and our time and we we need to see what those states have in the way of reform before they start preaching to us about reform this is obviously. an sos and say that has been instigated by night so and that's cronies and the arab world. one country which felt the full force of western interference this it was libya. is not over yet russia wants an investigation into the civilian casualties caused by the eighty's mission. so well to the hands of rebels also takes a look back at the events that shaped the year. my western colleagues explaining that. breaks his hotel at that time was the safest place in libya because nature knew that's where journalists were but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake. witnesses. to history in the

making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . it was the end of an era in north korea this week with the death of its veteran through the kim jong il from a heart attack at sixty nine he's youngest son kim jong un has already been named as supreme leader to keep it in a state getting this excessive states t.v. channels have shown thousands of people weeping in the streets. diana we can go and see what is lying in state in the capital pyongyang successor was the first to pay his final respects use the north's neighbors on high alert japan called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region where south korea said its military standing ready but political analyst agency says actions are being directed from washington important thing here to understand is that for example the

who really are being our military or it's not south korea that is our military or it's the united states that is actually using south korea as a beachhead ever since the end of the korean war the other hand we have to understand or should be asking ourselves will the military the north korean military which are very powerful one million strong army four million reserve nuclear arms ballistic missiles will they really be subordinated to the new government or will they have a larger standard is probably the key question is how will all of this unfold what will china do china has a very special relationship with north korea it's sort of a love hate strict father versus problem child relationship i cannot see how. these things should be because north korea will undoubtedly do that which china does not allow we have to always interpret north korea within the scope of the

regional geopolitics of china which is the key power in the region. iraq's government is a punching deeper into crisis with leaders and gauging in the blame game in the wake of multiple bombings that hit the capital on thursday dozens of dollars in the attacks which came only a few days ultimately can choose pulled out even though the u.s. insists it's left a stable country behind but for this bonus from the institute for policy studies believes their presence never security in iraq this is not a stabilizing force it never has been i don't accept the premise that the us occupation force has provided stability if we look at what happened in two thousand and six two thousand and seven at the height of the u.s. occupation that was the year the the two years or so of the worst kind of sectarian warfare that iraq had ever seen in the original invasion an occupation of iraq the

u.s. brought into being a level of sectarian discord and ultimately sectarian fighting that had not been the case in iraq prior to the u.s. invasion so i think we have to link this very closely to the role of the u.s. in the invasion and occupation that began in two thousand and three the fact that u.s. troops are being withdrawn now doesn't mean that the consequences of those years of occupation simply disappear those consequences are remaining and in fact getting worse. russia is urging nato to look into reports of civilian deaths in libya caused by a seven month campaign human rights groups are contesting nato's claim that its twenty six thousand strikes did not cause any civilian casualties and former rebels are still talking supporters of colonel gadhafi they find some of the images in this on a boycott report disturbing. this is what it's like to look death in the face a group of man the young and old captured after the nadir propped rebels overran

get off his hometown of sirte there was behind the camera delivers a verdict. for gadhafi. and the captives themselves seemed certain about what's coming next and it seems like these play now is a costly be as the rebels assisted by western powers so to liberate the country from gadhafi arbonne lodgings about he said district tendencies grow more and more outlandish by the day and that seems to justify any sort of treatment for his perceived loyalists in some places the violence is quite bad the town we looked out in was called. and the militias from the neighboring town of misrata are terrorizing the people of to where they accuse them of having fought for qaddafi of having committed atrocities. in his name this is one of the liberated tripoli's new

landmarks a prison where moammar gadhafi was set to hold his political opponents with no access to lawyers and no chance for a fair trial. but while the prisons new guards have very elaborate in their rating is ferocity is here and hatred still resides in this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area installed in tripoli where more margot duffy had strong support base prior to his fleeing the district also and his name in the tourist prisons a scene of torture and arbitrary killings but while gadhafi is gone the human rights abuses still remain rather from this area are still disappearing without a trace their families are too scared to talk about. this is probably the only place in all the beer with families of a legit good office supporters can turn to for how mama to form peace and your earlier this year it's investigated the fate of those who disappeared in good

office prisons he is now primarily dealing with people who went missing under libya's new leadership it's usually mothers who come here and at first they are scared to tell me that this son or husband was with because daffy forces they usually say he was a civilian court in the crossfire but i tell them that i don't care which side he was on all i need is accurate information so that we can start searching. mohammad and his friends have been taking photos of unidentified bodies that have been popping up across lead beer in recent months this naturists are probably their relatives most realistic hope of finding closure but even after sifting through them many managed to retain hope like this man whose brother disappeared on the front lines of banjo. i hope he's in tunisia maybe he's in hospital maybe he's lost his memory or has no way of contacting us. they say hope dies last only but

it's still alive even if many people aren't. artsy tripoli. volunteer are staying off their beers colonel gadhafi with some nato help was all give me the defining event of the arab world's shifting sands this year parties were if not travelled inside libya throughout the year talking to both gadhafi family members and the rebels here's her first hand account of her time in tripoli . we arrived in libya in the evening this is how you'd expect this kind of story to start but actually we crossed that unusual border when the sun was too high. our driver told us to be careful we all thought that was a little bit are necessary. but he explained that they sway nato and qaddafi.

could both blame each other if journalists got killed. when our first night in tripoli we got a very warm welcome to rixos hotel we stayed was just a kilometer or two away from. his residence. and that was bombed that night as it had never been before and would never be our wards. it was literally shaking curtains in our rooms were moved even with doors firmly closed. my bed was just beside a glass wall i moved a dick. into the room because i was scared that an explosion could destroy literally. my western colleagues explaining that. rixos hotel at that time was the safest place in libya because nato knew best were drawn in this war but we couldn't

stop thinking. what if they make a mistake the residents of secrecy with this search here in st louis have been woken up by a strike in the middle of the night and all several moms learn that hear this story as you can see behind me some world three story buildings. and there were no. professional rescuers at the scene only man who bare hands. and one after another they pulled out five dead bodies. where she couldn't see that but is themselves. because they were just wrapped up in blankets. lifeless bundles. in the morgue we heard that they were three little babies among the that. they were lying there.

in the cold that's all tables still in pampers. and next morning nato confirmed. it had made a mistake the intended target during last night's best truck in tripoli was a military missile site. however from our initial assessment of it appears that one weapon did not strike intended target due to a weapons systems failure. of course i wanted to meet khadafi or his son say for this every journalist did but that was kind of impossible. as you will one day after a news conference my friend and a time photographer came to me and pointing at the man. in his suit told me he wants to meet you the next night i got a call the card he said wait someone told me weeks back to them to blindfold us but

they didn't do anything like that. you know the option of hold the gun to the room and no one paid any attention to. what he was different when he entered we all noticed we all knew that he is right now in the room. there was an injury common knowledge from him very powerful man. he invited me to follow him in a separate. group. with questions many questions like what do you think about what do you think about the uprising hey and maybe what do you think about me what do you think about my father but i was calm and confident. and then he suddenly stopped and looked at my shoulders high heels. and he went. sweetie what about your questions and you know he looked like he didn't take me seriously actually and i looked at my notes and the first questions there

was did you or your father. give the order to kill civilians. but i didn't tell him that and i was like smiling just ordinary questions. and he said ok let's go. and that interview was one of the past interviews in my life if not the best interview safe was very sincere. very. he thought always before answering that was really literally electricity in that truck. were left next morning and i had a feeling that i would never see this country again. i didn't go back six weeks later. but that was a different country already with new faces new heroes new everything. the country i had traveled in the summer of two thousand and eleven it is now just

a part of history for good. that r.t. is remembering at ten key events which define the year you can catch them all online at r.t. dot also online now snooping on the only song pentagon don't use the surveillance program tactic to troops private correspondence and computer files. pepper spray and the rest but this isn't the right it's a short piece stateside to get their hands on some retro style sort of the sneakers details and footage earth r.t. dot com. the search for workers still trapped in the sunken oil rig and russia's far east continues over the chances of finding anyone else alive are remote one saturday six more bodies were plucked from the icy waters and brought ashore of the sixty seven people on board only fourteen are rescued and thirty six remain unaccounted for the rig capsized in just twenty minutes while it was being

towed back to port. well turning to some of today's world headlines there. days of violent clashes between government security forces and the muslim sect have left at least sixty dead in northeast nigeria dozens of members of a militant group were killed in a shoot out in the city of goma to the violence became so intense that troops were forced to evacuate the center the military task force has been deployed to try and contain the violence. security forces have opened fire on protesters and then ends capital killing nine leaving scores wounded the embattled president vowing to leave the country tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on the presidential palace demanding presence and they be put on trial places and military troops used live rounds tear gas and water friends to disperse protesters civilians are our troops trinity true enties thirty three in every.

hour let's take a look at how people throughout the world are celebrating christmas during midnight mass at the vatican open ground on the commercialism of christmas. for those to pass the superficial glitter and concentrate on the days leading. west banks christian minority gathered together to commemorate the birth of jesus and the taiwanese capital people flocked to see the christmas eve raid in a coastal display acrobats by the marching band. russian military communications satellite crashed back to work in siberia out of failing to reach its planned orbit on friday space experts say it was caused by a malfunction during the rocket third stage of launch one fragment of the satellite hit a house making a hole in the roof luckily no one was injured but it's not all been bad news in

space this is the russians spacecraft did make a successful launch. for dock or the international space station the new crew members on board three were spend five months of it conducting dozens of experiments. up the back of the headlines in just a few that states. well

going into the future new year's wishes on technology updates next generation playfields made from super strong cultural lightweight building materials good health with the help of nuclear isotopes a cleaner planet thanks to the revolutionary way to get rid of our growing man fields and along with the knowledge of the russian innovators. we've got the church . here in bygone days dogsleds were vital to get around. but today they're more leisure than lifeline. one drives people to quit their modern lives and settle in remote woods. one finds them up to survive in the freezing cold. a new beginning in russia's nose

discover the arctic circle on r.t. . among the least explode areas. and untouched by much. surrounded by steep rock. case paintings on display for thousands of years. eastern science beyond the time. on on see. whether you dive from high or to the depths. catch 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 film a screen that's going to be heaven. in the white see up close and below the ice on our t.v. . today's news on the week's top stories snotty tens of thousands rally in central moscow attesting against the results of this month's parliamentary home present the benefits postal sweeping political reforms some of which are already under way to the state duma. if syria is not in a spiral of violence the forty four killed in suicide blasts into mass chaos countries also struggling down to the west.