week's top stories from our team tens of thousands rallied peacefully in the russian capital demanding a rerun of the parliamentary elections while president meeting with better vows bold political reform. international pressure mounts on the syrian regime to end its crackdown on protesters as violence intensifies across the country people struggling under the heavy burden of western sanctions. and the end of an era while north korea mourn the death of a truly kim jong il's youngest son stepped into power hailed as the new supreme commander there.

live from moscow this is our warm welcome to my name is kevin irwin with a weekly roundup of the top stories from the last seven days and first tens of thousands rallied in central moscow on saturday and another peaceful protest over the results of this month's parliamentary election thirty thousand people turned out of the capital according to the russian interior ministry but rally organizers said the true number was over one hundred thousand protesters were calling for a rerun of the election which they claim was rigged the rally echoed an earlier one that had been held two weeks ago when thousands took to the streets to have their say president medvedev addressed the protesters in his annual state of the union speech promising widespread political reforms some of which are already underway in the newly elected state duma r.t.c. go to prison off. 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 and he wants to change the rules for the registration of political parties as well as for taking porting elections in fact a total ground up rebuild of the whole electoral system today governors in russia are up pointed directly by the president they used to be elected in the ninety's but this was canceled to 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 political system of power but now russia's regions are told it's time to start gaining more independence from moscow the president's proposed reforms will also hit the 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 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 cancelled russia has enormous potential enormous human capital physical capital and has the potential to become a world leader and they would like the especially the educated people would like to play a part in that the president praised the legal right to express opinions you don't

want any attempts to manipulate and provoke the people will you not be accepted up with them when you pull your way. 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. not scales but getting back to that we've seen that even with announced another proposal concerning his own host 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 need to mediate if he's aiming for the prime minister's seat if. upcoming presidential vote in more. moscow. and go online to get coverage of the mass

protests in russia's capital we've got a video direct from the site of the rally on our you tube channel and while you're online as well we invite you to visit our twitter. always got the latest firsthand impressions from our correspondents there and of course you can also catch the full background of the protests on our website our team don't call. today violence is once again flared up. these are the images. from the street. for racial. activists in syria say the opposition held city of homs is on the heavy fire from thousands of government troops and tanks they are calling on the arab league to

dispatch observers know the area it wants an advance party of monitors flew into damascus last week to prepare for their. the primary are observers their mission is to oversee a peace plan that guarantees that the regime ends its. time to describe hundreds of civilians being gunned down in recent days twin suicide blasts in damascus targeting government buildings also killed forty four on friday but the regime is under a set of heavy sanctions from the u.s. and the e.u. but it's all to serve first reports next to the syrian people who are feeling the squeeze. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus has remained largely shell said from the conflict here 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 a little stronger the arab league's and pays tough economic sanctions the effects of which have been felt even head in a poor area in the damascus grass and her family struggling to make ends meet

her son here has learning difficulties fava beans for a living that he barely makes one hundred fifty syrian pounds a day three dollars to support him and his wife. now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of with the economic sanctions driving the price up. their last 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 that had been seen to be making progress be it slowly but 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 rushed to stockpile fuel and gas just. 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 take the sanctions with the government hands when it came to ending the violence in the country was inside syria at the name and many feel it every day people being punished economic sanctions still. taking. one hit. has become part of the daily life of many people here in syria. from the arab league will be paving the way to 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 in they meant to seeing is

imperative to the families like. finding life under the sanctions increasingly desperate search. damascus. the u.s. and the e.u. say the stance against a mosque this is a reaction to the regime's crackdown on peaceful protesters but they're refusing to to recognize that the opposition is also on the fighting to bring down president assad some analysts believe it's because the west wants to see regime change in syria. what we see here about these atrocities five howser. deaths here and the so-called massacres none of these numbers are confirmed they are actually given and if you look at the media they are actually telling you that they're getting their information from the. rebel army they're not getting it from inside that country but of course when you look at the mainstream media at least here in the united states they are just repeating those numbers this is basically a makeup of

a psychological warfare first of all the decision on syria was made months or years ago even as the preparations began and this is a church key on the border there there nato's airbase there injured airbase in the may two thousand and eleven so they have the decision they have had that the station they have been preparing for an actual war and then they begin the propaganda and the psychological warfare by trying to get the public support for an unwarranted war and that's the key pocket sea off the u.s. foreign policy you're looking at live playing right in front of you later this hour see the inside track on the most momentous events. they to you that's where journalist. but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make and mistake our t's really for national correspondent sharing her first time

in reflection reporting from the nato strike zone in water one libya. north korea is still mourning the death of its leader kim jong il who passed away last saturday from a heart attack at the age of sixty nine his death was announced on state t.v. on monday by a whipping newscaster and thousands of people were shown crying in the streets as youngest son now kim jong un has already been named as supremely leader to keep the delisting going the former rulers body is now lying in state in the capital pyongyang as north koreans continue to pay their final respects with a funeral planned for december twenty eighth loses their support the country's neighbors on high alert japan has called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region while south korea says its military is on standby independent journalist tim shorrock believes that the successor will need time to secure his position as leader. 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 you know this zero next to zero military experience but i think what these 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 about you know on this decision and 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 maybe as the room is a struggling to keep rebel forces from tearing each other apart two months after death tribal violence is on the rise and but petion killing is a form of loyalists a constant a shadow of the country's future reports from libya. this is what it's like to look death in the face a group of man the young and old captured after they need to. get office home town of sirte that was behind the camera deliveries that very day did you look for gadhafi did you. and the captives didn't sound seems 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 longines 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 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 for off cities here in hatred still reside in this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area in southern tripoli where more margot had strong support. for 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 mammoth formed and your earlier this year to investigate 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 this son or husband was with pick a daffy forces they usually say he was a civilian courts 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 had been taking photos of unidentified bodies that have been popping up across lee beer 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 his 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 only bit it's still alive even if many people aren't going to boycott art scene tripoli. libya uprising that began in february and ended in october as one of the top ten the vents and the that shaped almost all year broadcasting for us. the civil war saw a nato led coalition intervene with thousands of deadly air strikes which frequently cause civilian casualties of his reform covered revolution from inside libya looks

back on her experience. we arrived 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 base way nato and qaddafi. could both blame each other if the scope killed. one our first night and truthfully we got a very warm welcome rixos hotel we stayed 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 in our rooms were moved even with the doors firmly closed my bed was just beside a glass wall i did. 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 journalists order but we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake the residents of secrecy with districts here in street really have been woken up by a strike in the middle of the night and ball 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. 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. they were lying there. the cold 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. from our initial assessment as it appears that one what did not strike 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 they enter 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 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 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. just one of the team bringing you the news that every day towards the new year will bring you more personal reflections to from our correspondents who saw in the biggest stories of twenty eleven to bring you the details of this charming case you missed me as well there on the web site out cold. there's been five plus close to

christian churches across nigeria today it's killed at least twenty seven people the radical muslim site claims possibility for the attacks the group was involved in days of violent clashes with military forces that killed at least sixty in the past few days stephen lanman the radio host north from chicago told me pulls elections contributed to the unstable situation in the country. boko haram maybe extremist islamic sects but he issue is very political corruption crow years. of age in your name even last equals elections were reversed and for leaving here. jonathan was away he represents the christian sterols about half an eight year year is a muslim here in the north a woman actually who are his eight year here they are being totally shut out of the system and in jonathan is that close western charities close washington

ties close big oil and ease them here if they're me and entering the country over to big oil and let them just so so well it eats into the vest the agere that striving to. run the world brief now suicide bomber in northern afghanistan blew himself up during a funeral it killed nineteen people including a member of the national parliament that attack happened at the end of the ceremony as mourners were preparing to leave there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but local officials say they suspect the taliban suicide attacks are rare in the province which is considered one of the calmest regions in the country . in yemen's capital security forces have opened fire on protesters it's left nine dead but says tens of thousands marched today to the ex president's palace demanding that he should be tried for months of violent crackdowns on

anti-government demonstrations and i stated seventeen hundred people have been killed in clashes since the uprising began in february. signed a power transfer agreement ending years thirty three years of rule and giving way to his deputy to take over. a life from a violent for a moment it is of course the festive season and with christmas trees lighting up all day today let's take a look at how some people have been celebrating the holiday in different parts of the world in bethlehem the west bank's christian minority gathered with tourists to commemorate the birth of jesus thousands of palestinians from inside the west bank also converged on the town. and during midnight mass of the vatican the pope rounded on the commercialization of christmas urging followers to look past the superficial glitter and concentrate instead on the holidays true meaning fun and games in the capital taiwan people flocking to see a christmas eve parade in a colorful display including. sundries of

course once again following its annual trek around the globe welcome to the end of it just about now his visit you were lucky you can keep track of his every step courtesy of us online in a web site that we've got father christmas on. a special website monitoring say next progress is he in his reign to finish off the trip around the world this christmas. and a snippet of history larisa previous section two if you fancy a bit more reading on this day twenty years ago the first and only president of the soviet union because gorbachev announced his resignation of live t.v. address big news then you can acquaint yourself with it again on our website.

twenty seven minutes past ten o'clock at night moscow time some good out of sport with that in about twenty minutes my name is kevin owen you're watching r t this twenty fifth of december two thousand and eleven concha live from moscow and of course as i just mentioned if you are celebrating christmas in your part of the world right now well our very best wishes to him for me and the rest of the team on here tonight the headlines coming up.

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