three pm in moscow i'm at treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t tens of thousands massed in central moscow saturday in another peaceful protest over the allegedly rigged parliamentary election police say thirty thousand gathered in a central square although organizers claim the number to be much higher the rally echoed what it held two weeks ago when the message was the same hold another election president medvedev address protesters in his annual state of the union speech promising widespread political political reform some of which already underway in the newly elected state duma party's europe is going on as 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 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 for him to directly by the president they used to be elected in the ninety's but this was cancelled in the early two thousand snell 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 two. tauriel 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 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 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 will not be accepted up with them when you know it's going to them 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 he is going to have already moscow. you know violence

struck the syrian capital friday when twin car bombings killed forty four people in damascus the suicide attacks are being blamed on al qaeda 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 action on syria remains under the growing western and arab league pressure but it's people who are feeling the pinch as r.t. sorry for ports from damascus within the program 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 this one says sets in the winds of change have begun subliminal stronger the athletes and taste tough economic sanctions the effects of way it's being felt even headed in a poor area of damascus and his family is struggling to make ends meet

the news is learning that he's full of the beans for a living he barely makes one hundred fifty syrian pounds a day so even three dollars to support him and. 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 if that had been seems to be making progress be it. for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity. 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 a taste people are a little bit afraid of the fact that water or gas might run out this is when you see these queues this in place by the arab league it was hit the sanctions with the government hand when it came to ending the violence in the country is inside syria at the moment many feel it every day people are looking for the economic sanctions so it's just like taking. the one hit that must have 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 much opposition 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 some parents of two three families like. finding life under the sanctions increasingly desperate search. damascus.

dr has xanga cib an expert in the region says the syrian opposition groups seeking foreign intervention are driven by power rather than humanitarian needs we know how the syrian people feel they're all against foreign intervention and we've seen what foreign intervention done in other countries in iraq for example and in libya recently it was a disaster so nobody would know i think let alone the syrians would welcome the venture but these people the so-called opposition has gone out of their minds i think that just. beginning actually. it's called the conflict with the city and it's the simple is that these people are desperate they want power they they of course they want to be at the top of the syrian regime and they don't care about the country you know even if the country is destroyed as long

as there is even toppled as long as they. gain power they don't care much about that. 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 city and home. one country feeling the full force of western interference this year was libya and the aftermath isn't over yet russia wants an investigation into civilian casualties caused by nato mission while more deaths are reported at the hands of former rebels plus r.t. takes a look back at the events that shaped thing you. might listen colleagues explaining that. brics is hotel at the time was the safest place in libya because nature knew that's where journalist. but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they

make a mistake. witnesses. to history in the making of. testimony. and stories that shape two thousand and eleven on r.t. . was the end of an era in north korea this week with the death of its veteran ruler kim jong il from a heart attack at age sixty nine his youngest son kim jong un has already been named as a supreme leader to keep the dynasty going the secretive states t.v. channels have shown thousands weeping in the streets kim jong il died a week ago his body lying in state in the capital pyongyang his successor was first to pay final respects the news has 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 independent journalist james corbett thinks north korea's unpredictability is being used by both china and the u.s. . the north has always been the sort of madwoman in the attic when it comes to east

asian politics and it serves i think he was full function for a number of parties in the region not only as a sort of proxy for china which has been really propping up the regime internationally by giving it its the its support on the international skip stage which can then use the minutes of north korea and to be seen to be keeping north korea in line but it also serves as a sort of strange function on these two stage for for example the united states which one would think would be interested in disarming north korea but in fact in every single stage of north korea's nuclear armament even united states has been deeply involved with that the arming of the north korean regime with two light water reactors back in the one nine hundred ninety s. under clinton and it it plays and very interesting counterpoint to the hysteria that we see going on over the possibility that iran's money one day develop a nuclear weapon well here we have a nuclear arms state that's been a law being missiles over our head here in japan for years now and threatening the

entire region and yet they've just walked away from those talks for the last two years so it plays a very strange role in the stage and relations right now. stay with us here on our team still to come the baltic states that scouting the cost of its currency club membership cash strapped estonia paying for a sighting of pretty hero say they don't want to fork over for richer country's debt mistakes. but first russia is urging nato to look into the 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 airstrikes didn't cause civilian casualties meanwhile former rebels were a main targeting supporters of colonel gadhafi as artie's oksana boyko reports from tripoli. 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 the cost leave here as the rebels assisted by western powers so to liberate the country from gadhafi i've been lodgings about he said to stick tendencies growing 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 but no access to lawyers and no chance for

a fair trial. but while the prisons new guards have a very elaborate in their rating gadhafi 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 base prior to his flame 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 valid 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 mama to form peace and your earlier this year to investigate the fate of those who disappeared and get off its prisons he's now primarily dealing with people who went missing under new

leadership it's usually mothers who come here and. 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 bear in recent months this naturists are 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 banter about. i hope he's in tunisia maybe his in hospital maybe he's lost his memory or has no way of contacting us. they see whole dies last. it's still alive even if many people aren't. artsy tripoli

hospitals or the violent ousting of libya's colonel qadhafi with nato help was arguably one of the defining events of the arab world shifting says this year parties where if an ocean of travel inside libya throughout the year talking to both khadafi family members enter rebels here's her firsthand 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 the tunisian 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 khadafi. 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 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. 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 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 all several bombs landed here this story as you can see behind me some world three story buildings. and there were no. professional rescuers at the scene. only man with 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. in the cold that's all tables still in pampers. and next morning nato confirmed. it had made

a mistake intended target during last night's fair strike in tripoli was a military missile site. 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 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 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 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 if not the best interview safe was very sincere. very open and 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. marty is taking a look back at the key events that define the you can catch all of our of to

respect is online at r t dot com here's what's also looking at the way right now snooping on their own soldiers pentagon launches a surveillance program to tap into the private correspondence and computer files. plus pepper spray and arrests but it's not a riot it's shopping stateside all together hands on the latest retro style sought after and they said all the details and footage that are key to. the search for survivors from a sunken oil rig in russia's far east was called off thursday a recovery operation is now underway chances of finding anyone else alive are remote six more 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 capsized in just twenty minutes while being towed back to port. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe there's been

two explosions at nigerian churches during christmas services the first bomb killed at least ten people near the capital with scores injured the cause of the second blast a church in a restive city in central nigeria still unconfirmed casualty figures remain unknown no one's admitted carrying out the explosions but there have been days of sectarian violence blamed on a radical islamist group. the sudanese army says it's killed the leader of the main dar for rebel group the death of. who led the justice and equality movement hasn't been independently verified yet 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 ibrahim's group. it was also accused of fighting for the former libyan leader moammar gadhafi. security forces have opened fire on protesters in yemen's capital killing nine leaving scores wounded with the embattled president vowing to leave the country tens of

thousands descended on president palace demanding he be put on trial police and military office troops used live rounds tear gas and water cannons on the crowds sali has signed the transfer of power treaty which will end these thirty three year rule in february. shifting gears now to take a look at how people all around the world are celebrating christmas during midnight mass at the vatican the pope rounded on the commercialism of christmas christmas he urged followers to look past the superficial glitter and concentrate on the holidays true meaning in bethlehem the west bank's christian minority gathered to commemorate the birth of jesus while in sydney it's santa in the surf as beach goers shielded themselves from the sweltering sun on the beaches with woolly hats to add a bit of festive feel. it's a waiting game for the debt laden euro zone after this month's key summit in brussels ratings agencies are sound the alarm over heavy borrowing while the e.u.

failed to find a good agreed upon two hundred billion euros for its i.m.f. fund as the u.k. babbit out and there's one recent year ozone member which finds itself reluctant to pay you for others debts as artie's alexei or chefs reports. on paper these people live in one of the most prosperous economies of the baltic region reality their homeland. is the 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 home of a lot recently euro commission check their pensions are authorities told they received an average pension of six hundred this is far from reality pensions in greece which fifteen hundred here get around two hundred. a stone he adopted the usual 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 some

political advantage in terms of if you want locking a stone you're more firmly into the e.u. 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 rather than economically but the euro what got some party soon brought a painful hangover since september story has agreed to take part in the group in financial stability facility the body created to combat financial crisis and bail out countries like greece these are 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 my trichet 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. government however doesn't seem. tension and refuses to drop out of this relief fund meanwhile members of this community say they would rather help greece with potatoes and far 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. see reporting from. filing this news block a russian military communications satellite crashed back to earth in siberia after

failing to reach its planned orbit friday space experts say it was caused by a malfunction during the rockets third stage of launch one fragment of the satellite hit a house making a hole in the roof but luckily no one was injured not all bad news though for the space program a russian soyuz craft did make a successful launch before docking with the international space station with new crew members aboard the three will spend five months in orbit conducting dozens of experiments. and said it's not the only one who's been busy around the north pole coming up. intrepid trip to the arctic after a recap of our headlines in a few moments stay with us.

with a view from new year's wishes on technology updates next generation places made from super slow lately building materials good health with a host of nuclear isotopes a clear plan it seems to be a revolutionary way to get rid of our growing landfills and a long list of russian invaders. if you. couldn't take three. years. arrangement

three. three stooges. old freeboard clothing videos for your media projects a free media. three thirty pm in moscow or bring you the week's top stories here on our team tens of thousands rally in central moscow protesting the results of this month's parliamentary vote president 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 also struggling under mounting pressure from the west and the arab league.