two pm in moscow i'm mad good to have you with us here on our t.v. as we bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news tens of thousands of people massed in moscow saturday at another peaceful protest over the allegedly rigged parliamentary vote police say thirty thousand gathered in a central square although organizers claim the number was much higher the rally echoed what it held two weeks ago when the message remained the same to hold another election president medvedev addressed the protesters in his annual state of the union speech promising widespread political reforms some of which are already under way at the newly elected state duma are he ever has more. 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 porting elections in fact a total ground up rebuild of the whole electoral system today governors in russia are up for him to directly by the president they used to be elected in the ninety's but this was canceled thousands now 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 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 tutorial can. 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. 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 canceled russia has enormous potential enormous human capital norma's physical capital and has the potential to become a world leader and they would like the rest 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 media to finance to 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. you know violence

struck the syrian capital friday with twin car bombings killing forty four people in damascus the suicide attacks are being blamed on al qaida although the opposition says they were staged by the government to justify its crackdown on anti-rejection protesters the arab league has started its mission to put a peace plan into place syria remains under growing the western and arab league economic pressure but it's the people who seem to be feeling the pain as r.t. sara first reports from damascus. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus is a mango as he sells it from the conflict the fight in the bustling sand say it seems like it's business as usual as one says sets in the winds of change have begun supply evidence stronger the arab league sometimes tough economic sanctions the effects of weights and be felt even headed in a poor area of damascus and his family is struggling to make ends meet

his son years learning to follow the beans for a living but he barely makes a hundred and fifty syrian pounds a day so even three dollars to support him and physically. 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 seems to be making for progress be it . for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity a. financial transactions. blackouts become the new. they could be even the financial times ahead. because of the economic sanctions

people rush to stockpile fuel and gas just. people are a little bit afraid of the fact that water or gas might one out this is when 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 are looking for the economic sanctions so it's just like taking the lead that he she is the one here. 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 a moment to seeing is imperative to the 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 from the un security council were blocked by some western countries moscow's ambassador to the un says their objections could be a barrier to securing peace this is straightforward text god isn't a commendation and support and appreciation of the efforts of the to be. repeated straightforward to. expression of invention or that the it will help to do while it's unfortunately i can tell you that to 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 with the security council because i would try to do something positive with inevitably the met with all sorts of concerns about balance why didn't you do this why did you do that and it brings us to square one in the entire conversation. the u.s.

is keeping up its harsh criticism of the syrian regime warning of new international measures unless it withdraws security forces from the streets new york satirist ted rall says the sanctions are a well known political tool of washington. i think we're going to be looking at the usual the usual trajectory of sanctions of more of a ramping up the sanctions trying to deny diplomatic recognition and cutting off. all economic activity between syria and u.s. allies in the region these things almost have a a logical branching out that you see in one crisis after the other it's almost like it's a self generating power to a future war this is an opportunity for the united states to get rid of sort of a regional mini power that they find irritating and as a way to do a favor for it's such a fellow in the region israel there's not

a human rights is something that the united states only cites when it's convenient for them and it's even states were to ramp up towards a military action in the coming year they would certainly cite the arab league's statements as a way to justify a. country that felt the full force of western interference is here was living and its aftermath isn't over yet russia is calling for an investigation into civilian casualties caused by the nato mission while more deaths are reported at the hands of former rebel also marty takes a look back at the events that shaped the year. my listening colleagues explaining that. rixos hotel at that time was the safest place in the theater because they tell you that's where journalists. 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 our t.v. . it's been an end of an era for north korea this week with the death of a veteran of kim jong il from a heart attack each sixty nine his youngest son kim jong un has already been named as supreme leader to keep the dynasty going the secretive state t.v. channels have shown thousands of people weeping in the streets kim jong il died a week ago his body is lying in state in the capital pyongyang his successor was the first to pay five all respects the news put the north's neighbors on high alert japan called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region while south korea said its military is standing ready to m.b.o. an asia specialist who's written extensively on the korean region examines the global impact of chems death the americans i think at the moment not moving climate because they want to keep tension on the. opposite way of contain china so

i would greet the american response where the the you will decide that it's they won't come back and go we don't know if we have a smooth transfer of power in the in the north and i think it's likely. it will. we will move forward perhaps not this year but the following you know when this new government in seoul and we may get a return to light to the engagement of the of the previous five years ago. if on the other hand there's some sort of term war and. if the. system is not the children. then we may get don't shoot from the start and then. who knows what will happen. turning to the middle east now iraq's government is plunging deeper into crisis with leaders in gauging it 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 after u.s. troops pulled out even though america insisted left behind a stable country middle east blogger karl shohreh says little progress that was made is now in danger of falling apart although we've been told in the past few years that american success in restoring security and stablish in a stable political order there leave before the last american soldier has actually left iraq both kind of in the process of completely unraveling so what we see now is due to a kind of course of the prospects either short by the violence that hopefully common sense would prevail and there would be a return for political solution or a complete breakdown which are the moment. sounds more and more plausible in which those who don't have the political power and authority left to them by that kind of previous american at age went in there by people who play the sectarian card for political gain to kind of just in for

a space but that process is by far isn't over determined at this moment the iraqi people can still play their part and we've seen examples all across the middle east in order to kind of stop this cynical. conflict for power and kind of contain iraq from descending further into chaos. russia's urging nato to look into reports of civilian deaths in libya caused by its seven month campaign human rights groups are contesting nato's claim that it's twenty six thousand airstrikes didn't cause any civilian casualties meanwhile former rebels are still targets of supporters of colonel gadhafi so he's on a boycott 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 good office 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 where you know that possibly be as the rebels assisted by western powers so to liberate the country from gadhafi i've been 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 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 margo duffy had strong support base prior to his flame the district also and his 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 are still disappearing without a trace of their families are too scared to talk about. this is probably the only place in all the beer with families of a logic get out his supporters can turn to for how mammoth formed 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 the khadafi 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 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 his brother disappeared on the front lines 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 and leave it still alive even if many people aren't. artsy shipped only. the violent ousting of libya's colonel qadhafi with nato it was arguably the

defining event of the arab world's shifting sands this year or he's wary of the notion of travel inside libya throughout the year talking to both khadafi family members and rebels here's her firsthand 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 unnecessary. 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 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. an explosion could destroy literally. my western colleagues explaining that. rixos hotel at the time was the safest place in libya because nato knew best were drawn this morning but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake the residents of secrecy with this search here in three probably 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. rational rescuers at the scene only man with bare hands. and one after another they pulled out five dead bodies. where she couldn't see the butt 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 dead. they were lying there. on. the cold mats hold tables still in pampers. and next morning nato confirmed. it had made a mistake intended target during last night's best truck in tripoli was

a military missile site. however from our initial assessment of us it appears that one weapon did not strike intended target due to a weapons systems failure. of course i wanted to meet qaddafi 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 turn for tucker for 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 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 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 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 it's not the best interview safe was very sincere. very open and he thought always before answering that was really literally electricity and that true. will 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. artie's looking back on ten key events that define the year you can catch them all right now a click away at our team dot com here's what's also on r.t. dot com right now sleeping on their own soldiers the pentagon launches

a surveillance program to tap into the private correspondence and computer files. and pepper spray and no arrests but this is no riot it's shopping stateside get dull to get their hands on some retro style sought after sneakers all the details and footage at archie dot com. the search for survivors from a sunken oil rig in russia's far east was called off thursday and the recovery operation is now underway chances of finding anyone else alive are remote six bodies were plucked from the icy waters and brought ashore saturday of the sixty seven people aboard only fourteen were rescued thirty six remain unaccounted for during capsized in only twenty minutes while it was being towed back to port. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe the sudanese army says it's killed the leader of the main dar for rebel group the death of ybor he who led the justice and equality movement has not been independently verified

darr for rebels rose up against the sudanese government in two thousand and three in a conflict the u.n. says has killed some three hundred thousand people it is group is also accused of fighting for the former libyan leader moammar gadhafi. a bomb blast has torn through a catholic church near the nigerian capital during a christmas service killing at least ten it's not known who was behind the blast which also wounded twenty others as been a wave of violent clashes over the last few days between military troops and members of an islamist militant sect that's killed at least sixty people a group has new has caused nearly five hundred deaths alone this year. security forces have opened fire on protesters in yemen's capital killing night leaving scores rooted with the embattled president vowing to leave the country tens of thousands descended on president saleh is powerless demanding he be put on trial police and military troops use live rounds tear gas and water cannons on the crowds

sally has transferred power has signed a power transfer treaty which will put an end to his thirty three year rule in february. and finally let's take a look at how people throughout the world are celebrating christmas during midnight mass at the vatican the pope rather did on the commercialism of the holiday he urged followers to look past the superficial glitter and concentrate on christmas is true meaning in bethlehem the west bank's christian minority gathered together to commemorate the birth of jesus while in the sydney it's sent in the surf as beach goers shield themselves from the sweltering summer sun with to add a bit of festive feel. military communications satellite crashed back to earth in siberia after failing to reach its planned orbit on friday space experts say it was caused by a malfunction during the rockets third stage of the launch a fragment of the satellite hit a house making

a hole in the roof but luckily no one was injured but not all bad news a russian soyuz spacecraft did make a successful launch before dock with the international space station bringing new crew members aboard the three will spend five months in orbit conducting dozens of experiments. back with the headlines in a few moments stay with us here on our. world

comes with a view from new year's wishes on technology updates next generation places made from super strong cultural lightweight building materials good health with a host of nuclear isotopes a clear plan it seems to be a revolutionary way to get rid of or growing landfills and a long list of russian innovators. the central. or in bygone days dogsleds 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

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world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations are the day. two thirty pm in moscow we're looking back at the week's top stories here on our team tens of thousands rally in the central moscow protest against the results of this month's parliamentary poll president medvedev is promising sweeping political reforms some of which are already under way at the newly elected state duma. syria locked in a spiral of violence forty four killed in suicide blasts in damascus the country is also struggling under mounting pressure from the west and the arab.