week's top stories marty tens of thousands rally in central moscow protesting against the results of this month's parliamentary poll president advantage promises sweeping political reforms. syria is locked in a spiral of bothers with more than forty killed in suicide blasts in damascus as the country struggles on the mounting pressure from the west and the arab league. and next of kin a week after north korea's root of seventeen is jong il dies his youngest son steps into his shoes as the new supreme leader.

for costing live from moscow this is our weekly news review tens of thousands of people invest in moscow on saturday and other peaceful protests over the allegedly rigged parliamentary election police say thirty thousand gathered in the central square of the organizers claim the number was much higher. echoed one held two weeks ago and the message remained the same hold another election as in the event of address the protesters in his annual state of the union speech promising widespread political reforms some of which are already underway at the uni addicted 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 speeding and 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 he wants to change the rules for the registration of political parties as well as for taking part in 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 and thousands now the meeting with wants to bring the vote back as part of the move to vertical ice power in russia it took over a decade to build to the current vertical 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 state duma which will include two hundred twenty five deputies each independently elected within their own territorial 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 you was a star have been taking place across the country with tens of thousands of russians shouting out accusations of fraud and other violations 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 physical capital and has the potential to become a world leader and they would like the pressure 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's will. be accepted when you know

it's going to the middle we won't allow extremists are 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 meeting with another proposal concerning his own paused as well in order to run for president independent candidates have to gather at least two million approval signatures from voters three hundred thousand as asked the new figure currently being proposed which will most likely widen competition for a 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 more like. it's going to have already moscow. violence struck the syrian capital on friday when twin car bombings killed forty

four people in damascus the suicide attacks blamed on are kind of the opposition says they were staged by the government to justify its crackdown anti regime protesters the arab league has started its mission to put a peace plan into action so many of the hands of the growing western and arab league comic pressure but it's the people who are feeling the pain center thirty ports from the baskets. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus has remained largely sheltered from the conflict fights in the bustling side and so it seems like it's business as usual as one says sets in the winds of change have begun to float a little stronger the arab league sometimes tough economic sanctions the effects of which would be felt even headed in a poor area in the damascus interests and her family struggling to make ends meet. has learning difficulties fall the beans for a living but he barely makes one hundred fifty syrian pounds

a day three dollars to support him and his wife. and now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of its shortages the economic sanctions driving the price up. their 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 but for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity blocks financial transactions fuel shortages and blackouts have become the norm and as they 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 was inside syria at the moment many feel it every day people who are being punished economic sanctions still. selling taking bets that he she is not the one here they . have become part of the daily life of many people here in syria and at first ping from the arab league will be paving the way for an observer mission at the end of the month much opposition they remain skeptical about whether that too will bring about any real change to these coups up in the west of the conflict areas change can come and they meant to seeing some parity of teeth families like finding life under the sanctions increasingly desperate sara r.t. damascus. who's an expert on the region says the syrian opposition groups

seeking foreign intervention are driven by power rather than monetary and. we know how the syrian people feel they're all against foreign intervention and we've seen what foreign intervention has done in other countries in iraq for example and in libya recently it was a disaster so nobody no i think not only let alone the syrians no arab would welcome a forty intervention but these people the so-called opposition has gone out of their minds i think just last. and they're beginning actually to contact complete contact with the syrian people it's the simple as that these people are desperate they want power they they of course they want to topple the syrian regime and they don't care about the country you know even if the country is destroyed as long as their regime is toppled as long as they. gain power they

don't care much about their own homeland after all they've been out of their country for a long time and i don't think. anybody who called so for an intervention is actually. not only to the syrian government but to the syrian people to the syrian homeland one country which felt the full force of western interference this year was libya aftermath is not over yet russia wants an investigation into the civilian casualties and was pointing to his mission with that sort of answer from the rebels also he takes a look back at events start shape the year. my western colleagues explain that. breaks this hotel that time was the safest place in libya because nation you that's where journalist. but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake. witnesses. to history in the making

of. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on r.t. . it was the end of an era in north korea this week with the death of its veteran with kim jong il from a heart attack age sixty nine he came jong un has already been named the supreme leader it keep it is to giving the secretive states t.v. channels of thousands of people in the streets don't you know died a week to get his body is lying in state in the capital the success it was the first to pay as final respects use the door neighbors on japan called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region south korea said its mitchie standing ready for independent journalists to ensure it told r.t. that despite having studied in europe kim jong un is unlikely to bring change he's

only been around for three years in the public light he went to school in switzerland apparently he knows a lot about how the internet works and he knows a lot about social media but beyond that we know very little except he's been appointed a four star general he has no military training very very this year or next to zero military experience but i think what these leaders this closely held leadership in north korea wants is a symbol of their regime and this is a clear you know successor symbol they can they can use to continue their power and i think that the fact that it took two days to announce his death and they announced one hundred fifty personnel funeral committee means that they have the people lined up behind them have been on this decision and then they are getting ready to move forward on whatever was going on before in terms of any kinds of discussions with the united states south korea with other countries that did take kim jong il who just passed quite

a few years to actually gain total acceptance with the power structure there with the powers that be there in the in the party in the government to actually you know take firm control so i think that's an open question. well coming up here on r t the baltic states that's counting the cost of its currency club membership cash strapped to stern ians pay for signing up the euro saying they don't want to reach a country's debt stakes. russia is urging nato to look into reports of civilian deaths in the being caused by a seven month campaign human rights groups are contesting nato's claim that its twenty six thousand asterix did not cause any civilian casualties while former rebels are still targeting supporters of colonel gadhafi as oksana boyko reports. this is what it's like to look down in the face a group of men the young and old captured after the nadir propped rebels overran get off his hometown of sirte they were behind a camera delivers

a verdict did you work for gadhafi did you. and the captives themselves seem doubts about what's coming next and seems like these claims now that possibly 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 where our guard 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 a very elaborate in their rating good actors for all cities fear and hatred still reside in this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area in southern tripoli where more margot duffy had strong support base prior to his fleeing the district also had his name in a tourist prison a scene of torture and arbitrary killings but while gadhafi is gone the human rights abuses still remain valid from this area are still disappearing without a trace of their families are too scared to talk about that. this is probably the only place in all the beer with families of a logic get out his supporters can turn to for how mohammed born peace and your earlier this year it 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 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. mohamed and his friends have been taking photos of unidentified bodies that have been popping up across lee bear in recent months this snapshot it's probably the 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 god. i hope he's in tunisia maybe his in hospital maybe he's lost his memory or has no way of contacting us. they say hope dies last only bit it's still alive even if many people aren't going to wake up artsy tripoli.

for the violent ousting of libya's colonel gadhafi with that nato help was ultimately the defining event of our well shifting sands this year ortiz or if not traveled inside libya throughout the year talking to both gadhafi family members and rebels well here's her first hand account of her time in tripoli. we arrived in the evening and this is how you'd expect this kind of story to start but actually we crossed that unusual border when this. it was too high. our driver told us to be careful we all thought that was a little bit unnecessary. but he explained that they sway may turn khadafi. could both blame each other if it's got killed.

when our first night in tripoli we go to a very warm welcome 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 wards . it was literally shaking and curtains in our rooms were moved even with the doors firmly closed my bed was just beside a glass wall i moved to dig. into the room because i was scared that an explosion could destroy literally. my western colleagues explaining that. rixos hotel at the time was the safest place in the because nature knew best where journalists order but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make

a mistake the residents of secrecy were districts here in st for they have been woken up by a strike in the middle of the night and ball all several bombs landed here this story as you can see behind me several three story buildings. and there were no. rational rescuers at the scene only man with bare hands. and one after another they pulled out five dead bodies. 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 that. they will lie in their. cold mats hold tables still in pampers. and next

morning nato confirmed. it had made a mistake the intended target during last night's airstrike in tripoli was a military missile site. from our initial assessment of it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target due to a weapons systems. of course i wanted to meet khadafi or his son safe. 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 to call the car 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 line 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 a very powerful man. he invited me to follow him in a separate room and group me 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 among 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. fairy. he thought always before answering that was really literally electricity in that truck. would 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.

well arty's remembering it ten key events which define the you can catch them all there online at r.t. . also online now snooping on their own soldiers the pentagon launches a surveillance program to tap into troops private correspondence and computer files . plus pepper spray and arrests this is named riot it's shocking stateside to get their hands on some retro style sort of the sneakers the details of which parent r.t. dot com. the search for survivors from the sunken oil rig in russia's far east was called off on thursday recovery operation is now underway the chances of finding anyone else alive. six more bodies were plucked from the icy waters and waters shorn saturday of the sixty seven people board to rescue thirty six remain unaccounted for during capsized in just twenty minutes when it was being

towed back to port. well terry to some of today's world headlines now the sudanese army says it has killed the video of the main door for a rebel group the death of him that the justice and equality movement has not been independently verified therefore rebels rose up against the sudanese government in two thousand and three in a conflict the u.n. says has killed three hundred thousand people it was him it was also accused of fighting for the foreman to be in the can gadhafi. the days of violent clashes between government security forces and an islamist sect have left at least sixty dead in northeast nigeria dozens of members of a militant group were killed in a shootout in the city of goma to violence became so intense that troops are forced to evacuate the center and richard task force has been deployed to try and contain the violence. security forces have opened fire on protesters in yemen's capital killing nine and leaving scores wounded with the in. battle for president vowing to

leave the country tens of thousands descended on president size pallister mounding be put on trial the sun will shoot troops used live rounds tear gas and water cannons on protesters salary has signed a power transfer treaty which penalties thirty three in february. under the doubt help people throughout the world a celebrity christmas during midnight mass at the vatican pope who granted all the conversion isn't christmas yet to follow is to look past the superficial glitter and concentrate in a couple of days truly living. while in bethlehem the rest banks christian minority gathered together to commemorate the birth of jesus and in the time when these capital people flocked to see the christmas eve trade in a colorful display featuring acrobats and a marching band. now it's

a waiting game for debt laden euro zone after this month's key summit in brussels ratings agencies are sounding the alarm of heavy borrowing by the e.u. failed to find the agreed upon two hundred billion euros for its i.m.f. fund as the u.k. bowed out and there's one in recent years a member which finds itself reluctant to pay for others' debts is ati's next year shecky parables. on paper these people live in one of the most prosperous economies of the baltic region reality their homeland. is the e.u.'s poorest country and after spending a year being part of the euro zone these people say the positive changes they were promised are nowhere to be seen at the moment but a lot recently euro commission check their pensions are authorities told they received an average pension of six hundred this is sparks from reality pensions in greece which fifteen hundred here get around two hundred. a stone he adopted the euro last january but despite a general positive attitude towards the move until now it is mostly big businesses

and politicians that are really enjoying the transition there are clearly political advantages in terms of if you want locking in more firmly into the economic advantages as well in terms of investment the support for the euro is holding up very well people seem to be to see the advantages you may be politically rosslyn economically but the year award option party soon brought a painful hangover since september a story has agreed to take part in the group in financial stability facility the body created to combat financial crisis and countries like greece and now experts say this membership comes at a price you cannot afford to buy the formula for us is very bad because we need to . march. or percentage from our g.d.p. rich countries something more than nine percent from our budget the poorest

country we need to pay off march richer countries the country central bank has even warned of a possible recession recent polls suggest up to sixty percent of a story inspire against the country's membership of the. the government however doesn't seem to pay attention and refuses to drop out of this relief fund meanwhile members of this community say they would rather help greece with potatoes and fry it would then see their pension money heading their adopting the euro soon or later was a necessary condition for a stone you to join the european union but being part of the european financial stability facility was not in the agreement and while economists are speculating whether stonier should continue its membership in this organization ordinary people are left to wonder why they have to pay someone else's debts. reporting from.

a russian military communications satellites crashed back to worthing siberia after failing to reach its planned orbit on friday space experts say it was caused by a malfunction from the rockets third stage launch on fragments hold the satellite hit a house making a hole in the roof but luckily no one was injured that's not all but russian soyuz spacecraft did make a successful launch before the committee international space station and new crew members on board the train will spend five months in orbit conducting dozens experiments. without stating doughty of the headlines in just a few moments. new

year's wishes on technology updates next generation places made from super slow lightweight building materials to help with nuclear isotopes a clear plan it seems to be a revolutionary way to get rid of our growing man skills and a long list of russian innovators. couldn't take three. three. three three. three.