week's top stories from the tens of thousands rally in central moscow testing against the results of this month's parliamentary poll. sweeping political reforms . syria is not in a spiral of violence but more than forty killed in suicide blasts in damascus as country struggles on the mountain pressure from the west and the arab league. and next week after north korea's ruler of seventeen years kim jong. un steps into his shoes as the new supreme leader.

on air and online this is our weekly news review welcome to the program tens of thousands of people massed in moscow on saturday in another peaceful protest in the whigs parliamentary election police say thirty thousand gathered in a central square where the organizers claim a number was. a rally echoed one held two weeks ago remain the same hold another election president addressed the protesters in his annual state of the union speech missing widespread political reforms some of which underway in. the courts. 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 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 had 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 spirit of the educated people would like to play a part in that the president praised a legal right to express opinion warrant any attempts to manipulate and provoke the people will not. be accepted up with you when you know it's going to in 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 that need to be the most 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 as asked 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 moscow and. violence struck the syrian capital on friday when twin car bombings killed forty four people

in damascus the suicide attacks are being doing the kind that the opposition says they were staged by the government to justify its crackdown on t.v. jean protesters the arab league has started its mission to put a peace plan into action syria remains a growing western and arab league economic pressure but it's the people who are feeling the pain sara foote reports now from damascus. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus has remained close he sells it from the conflict. in the bustling sand say it seems like it's business as usual as one says sets in the winds of change have begun to flow a little stronger the arab league's imposed tough economic sanctions the effects of which have been felt even head in a poor area of damascus and her family struggling to make ends meet her son here has learning difficulties fava beans for a living but he barely makes a hundred and fifty three in pounds

a day three dollars to support him and that's why. now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of with the economic sanctions. there are less products available and the prices are pushed higher there have been fights over gas we've been trying to manage by cutting back as much as we can but 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 progress. for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity say. financial transactions. have blackouts become the new. they could be even the financial times ahead. because of the economic sanctions people rushed to stockpile of fuel and gas just. people are a little bit afraid of the fact that water or gas might run out this is why you see

these queues this in place by the arab league it is hate the sanctions which the government has and when it came to ending the violence in the country was inside syria at the moment many feel it every day people look being painted economic sanctions still. taking. the one hit. has become part of the daily life of many people here in syria. from the arab league will be paving the way for an observer mission to at the end of the month. position they remain skeptical about whether that to bring about any change. in the west of the conflict areas change can come and they meant to seeing it's imperative to the families like. finding life under the sanctions increasingly desperate search. damascus but russia is supporting the arab league's

mission in syria but attempts to get official backing by the u.n. security council were blocked by some western members. of the u.n. says their objections could be a barrier to securing peace. it's a straightforward text isn't of a commendation and support and appreciation of the efforts of the arabic and a pretty straightforward. expression of attention that it will help to put an end to while it's unfortunately i can tell you that a number of members of the security council objected to old 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 clued that and it brings us to two to square one in the entire conversation while the heart of the observer mission to damascus follows syria's membership of the

organization being suspended but jordan based professor in journalist for him that means that he should not be lecturing the country talking about reforms in syria especially when this kind of talk is coming from out of gulf states where. even a constitution of. our freedom of the media or the other 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 are in the pendant or somewhat untie imperialist about democracy what 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. and insurgency that has been instigated by nato and its cronies and the arab world. but one country which felt the full force of western interference this year was libya and the aftermath is not anything that russia wants an investigation into the terms. of all deaths or. former rebels also takes a look back at the events that shaped the year. my western colleagues explaining that. time was the safest place in libya because nato knew where journalists. but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake. with this is. history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and

eleven. it was the end of an era in north korea this week with the death of its veteran kim jong il from a heart attack aged sixty nine he's youngest son kim jong un has already been named the supreme leader to keep it in the state getting the secretive state t.v. channel shown thousands of people weeping in the streets kamal jong il died a week ago his body is lying in state in the capital pyongyang his successor was the first to pay his final respects and he was put the north's neighbors on high alert japan called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region south korea said its military standing ready independent journalist tim shorrock told r.t. that despite having started 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 next to zero military experience but i think what these two leaders this closely held leadership in north korea once 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 you know on this decision and then they're 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. iraq saddam and his plunging deeper into crisis with leaders in gauging in a blame game in the wake of multiple bombings that hit the capital thursday dozens died in the attacks which came only a few days off the bank and troops pulled out the u.s. insists that a stable country behind american diplomats but the latest flare ups a consequence of the occupation. the united states unleashed a lot of demons in iraq when we invaded in two thousand and three the most significant of which was the ethnic and religious tensions between the sunni the shias and the kurds that was an issue that plagued the american occupation for all of its long desperate nine years and even though the united states troops have pulled out as of last week that doesn't change the equation those tensions still exist in iraq and will have to resolve themselves one way or the other i'm afraid that the resolution will likely involve violence hopefully not at the levels that

we saw in two thousand and five and two thousand and six but politics in iraq is very much a full context sport it's a dangerous game to play there and people often do die in the course of political resolutions. when russia is edging nato to look into reports of civilian deaths in the polls by its seven month campaign committee rights groups are contesting nato has claimed that it's twenty six thousand and strikes did not cause any civilian casualties while for rebels a still targeting supporters of colonel gadhafi and six on a boy cannot reports. this is what it's like to look down in the face a group of man the young and knowledge captured after they need a prop to wrap both over iran get off his hometown of sirte that was behind a camera delivers the verdict meant to do it for gadhafi did you. and the captives didn't sound seems down about what's coming next. it

seems like these when you know the cost leave here as the rebels assisted by western powers so to liberate the country from gadhafi i've been longines 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 god 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 is ferocity is here and hatred still resides in

this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area in southern tripoli where more margot duffy had strong support prior to . the district also has its name to the tourists present a scene of torture and arbitrary killings but while gadhafi is gone the human rights abuses still remain rather from this area still disappearing without a trace where 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 formed 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 lead there 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 frontlines of banter about. 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 bit it's still alive even if many people aren't. artsy tripoli. the violent ousting of libya's colonel gadhafi with nato help was arguably the defining event of shifting sands this year. traveled inside libya throughout the

year talking to both gadhafi family members and rebels here's a firsthand account of a 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 the border when the sun was still 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 qaddafi. could both blame each other if the scope killed. when our first night in tripoli would go to a very warm welcome rixos hotel we knew the state was just. 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 rooms were moved even with doors firmly closed my bed was just beside a glass wall i did dig. into the room because i was scared. 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 drone is for which we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake for us and so succeed with this search here in st for they have been woken up by a strike in the middle of the night and all summer long slender to 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. they were lying there. on. the cold tables still in pampers. and next morning nato confirmed. it had made a mistake intended target during last night's truck in tripoli was a military. from our initial assessment is it appears that one weapon did not

strike intended target due to a weapons systems. of course i wanted to meet khadafi or his son say for every journalist did but i was kind of impossible. as you will one day after a news conference my friend and a ton 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 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. 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 shirt and 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 on 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 it's not the best interview safe was very sincere. very. he thought always before answering that was really literally electricity in that train. 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 new faces new heroes new everything. the country i had traveled in the summer two thousand and eleven it is now just a part of history for good. but all too easy remembering to turn the key events which define the year you can catch them on their online protein dot com. also i thought dot com snooping on their own soldiers the pentagon launches

a surveillance program to tap into troops private correspondence and computer files . pepper spray and the rest sports it's not going to run it. it should be stateside to get their hands on some retro style sort of the sneakers details and footage earth party. the search for survivors from the sunken oil reagan russia's far east has called off on this day cover operations down the way the chances of finding anyone else alive on a moat six more bodies were plucked from the icy waters and brought a shore on saturday of the sixty seven people on board in the fourteen were rescued and thirty six remain unaccounted for to break it capsized on just twenty minutes when it was being towed back to port. with some of today's other world headlines now the sudanese army says it has killed the leader of the main darfur rebel group the death of abraham that the justice and equality movement has not been

independently verified darfur 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 means group is also accused of fighting for the former libyan leader colonel gadhafi. days of violent clashes between government security forces and in the midst 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 hama to the violence became so intense that troops were forced to evacuate the center of military task force has now been deployed to try and contain the violence. security forces have opened farm protest is in yemen's capital killing nine and leaving scores wounded the embattled president vowing he'll leave the country tens of thousands ascended on present sunday's promised martin had been put on trial police and troops used live rounds tear gas and water cannons on protesters has signed power transfer treaty which enables.

now that such a look at her. people throughout the world are celebrating christmas during midnight mass at the vatican the pope grounded on the commercialism of christmas. to look past the superficial glitter and concentrate on the holidays tree leaning. in bethlehem the west bank's christian minority gathered together to commemorate the birth of jesus. while in sydney some took in the surface beachgoers shiva themselves from a sweltering summer sun really hurts. the festive feel of the proceedings. russian military communication satellites crashed back to work in siberia after failing to reach its planned orbit on friday space experts say it was caused by a malfunction june third stage of monty fragment of a satellite hit a house making

a hole in the roof but luckily no one was injured but it's not all bad news spacecraft did make a successful launch before docking with the international space station with a new crew members on board three five months in orbit conducting dozens of experiments. and i'll be back in just a few moments with the headlines. for . you.

well going into the future new year's wishes on technology updates next generation playthings made from super strong cultural lightweight building materials good health which helps coal nuclear isotopes a cleaner planet thanks to the revolutionary ways to get rid of our growing landfills and a long list of russian innovators. pleased to ensure their shirts. 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 fires them up to survive in the freezing cold. a new beginning in russia's nals discover the arctic circle on r.t. . witnesses. to history in the making of. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our. among the least explored areas. and untouched by man. surrounded by steep rock. case paintings on display for thousands of years.