thank you for joining us three o'clock here in moscow to your top story right now tens of thousands gathered in the russian capital on saturday in a second peaceful rally protesting over the results of this month's parliamentary election protestors were calling for a rerun of the election which they claim was rigged the russian interior ministry says thirty thousand people showed up but organizers say the true number was over a hundred thousand meanwhile president medvedev gave his annual address to the nation promising widespread political reforms some of which are already underway in the elected state duma we're going to some of reports. the time for change has come loose people are tired of not being able to promptly solve the most pressing needs 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

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 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 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 hit the stage which will include two hundred twenty five deputies each independently elected within their own to eat oil 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 were fifty criminal cases have been opened looking into the allegations while the results from more than twenty polling stations have been cancelled russia has enormous potential enormous human capital physical capital and has the potential to become a world leader and they would like the pressure the educated people would like to play a part in that the president praised the legal right to express opinion warned any attempts to manipulate and provoke the people will you not be accepted but 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 means democracy not chaos but getting back to the reforms that 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 march. is going to have already moscow. the head of the arab league's observer mission to syria arrives in damascus general mohammed all aim is to check the country's compliance with an arab peace plan aimed at

holding the nine month long unrest a further group of fifty arab league monitors should reach syria on monday according to estimates more than five thousand have been killed since march the monitors visit coincides with fresh claims of violence in the city of homes and twin suicide bombings on friday that killed forty four but as artie's sarah firth reports with western sanctions strangling the country it's the syrian people who are bearing the brunt. it's been nearly ten months since there is uprising began the capital of damascus remain low as he sells it from the conflict. in the bustling sand say it seems like it's business as usual as one says it's in the winds of change have begun civil over the stronger the arab league's impose tough economic sanctions the effects of which would be felt even hit in a poor area of damascus. and her family struggling to make ends meet.

beans for a living he barely makes a hundred and fifty three and the day. is really. 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's 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 he seems to be making. the for a population that it started seeing the results of economic opportunity say that financial transactions. back out become a little. bit they could be even the financial times ahead. because of the economic sanctions people. people are

a little bit afraid of part of. this is when you see these coups this in place by the arab league it was take the sanctions put the government hands when it came to ending the violence in the country because inside syria at the moment many feel it every day people are looking for economic sanctions so it's just like taking. the one hit that. has become part of the daily life of many people here in syria. from the arab league will be paving the way you can observe the 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 in they meant to seeing some parents of two three families like. finding life under the sanctions increasingly desperate search. damascus. the arab league's observer

mission to damascus follow syria's membership of the organization being suspended but jordan bass professor and journalist ibrahim on you she believes the league should not be lecturing another arab country talking about reforms in syria especially when this kind of talk is coming from out of gulf states where you know even the constitution of rhode island or freedom of the media or the are that i 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 independent or somewhat untie imperialist about democracy what that's what the senators room has said we are going along with our reforms on our agenda and our time and we need to see what those states

have in the way over reform before they start preaching to us about reform this is obviously. an sos and see that has been instigated by night so and it's cronies and the world. and later this hour the inside track on the year's most monumental sevenpence. major news. dramas. which we couldn't stop thinking. what if they make a mistake one of our t's team of international correspondents maria shares her own experience and the nato strike zone and war torn tripoli. north korea is mourning the death of its leader kim jong il who passed away from a heart attack at the age of sixty nine his death was announced on state t.v. on monday in an emotionally charged public statement the former ruler is body is now lying in state in the capital pyongyang as north koreans continue to pay their

final respects with millions of people shown weeping in the streets the funerals planned for december twenty eighth news of the leader's death put neighboring states on high alert japan called a special security meeting fearing instability in the region while south korea says its military is on stand by kim jong il's youngest son kim jong only has been proclaimed the new supreme commander tim beal and asia specialist who's written extensively on the korean region so is it still hard to predict the impact kim's death will have on events on the peninsula. the americans i think at the moment not moving climate because they want to keep tension on the ground are those way of contain china that so i would read the american response whether they will decide to do it they won't come back and go we don't know if we have a smooth transfer of power in the in the north i think it's likely. it

will. we will move forward perhaps not this year but the following year when this new government in seoul and we may get a return you like to be engagement all three of the previous five years ago. if on the other hand those some sort of turmoil and more if the. systems mark maturity. that. we may get into don't shoot from the start then. who knows what will. after the fall of the gadhafi regime in libya revenge killings have become a common occurrence in the country stability peace and freedom from persecution are just a dream as tribal violence is on the rise has more. this is what it's like to look death in the face a group of man the young and old captured after the nadir propped rebels overran get off his hometown of sirte there was behind a camera delivers

a verdict did you work for gadhafi did you. and the captives themselves seemed that certain about what's coming next. and it seems like these play now that possibly be 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 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 go back is ferocity here and hatred still reside in this neighborhood. obviously is a poor area in southern tripoli where more margot duffy had strong support base prior to his fleeing the district also and his name to the tour is 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 for their families are too scared to talk about. this is probably the only place in libya with families of a logic get out his supporters can turn to for how mama to form peace and your earlier this year it investigated the fate of those who disappeared in good office prisons he is now primarily dealing with people who went missing under libya's new

leadership it's usually mothers who come here and at first they are scared to tell me that this son or husband was with the gadhafi 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. for how men 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 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 front lines of banjo. i hope he's in tunisia maybe his in hospital maybe he's lost his memory or has no way of contacting us. they say hope dies last only bit it's still alive even if many people are going to boycott artsy tripoli.

and it's believed that up to thirty thousand people were killed in the libyan civil war that's a story that's dominated headlines and stay in one and has become one of the top turn world events that shaped the year here on our tea parties maria covered the revolution from inside libya and now looks back on our time there. we arrived in labor 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 the scope 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 the doors firmly closed my bed was just beside a glass wall i did dick were 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 major new tests were drawn this morning 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 moms learn that 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. wish we couldn't see that but. because they were just wrapped up a blanket. five live band all. in the mall we heard that they were free little babies among the dead. they will line there. the cold that's old tables still in pampers. and next morning nato confirmed.

it had made a mistake the intended target during last night's best strike in tripoli was a military missile site. however 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 remember one day after a news conference my friend and a time photographer came to me and pointing at the man. in his suit told me he wants to meet you the next night i got to call the car he said wait someone told me weeks back to them to blindfold us but they didn't do anything like that. you know the option of hold the line to the room and no one paid any attention to him. but

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 grill 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 look 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 trend. 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 two thousand and eleven it is now just a part of history for good. every day right

up to the new year we'll bring you more personal reflections from our correspondents who saw the biggest stories of two thousand and eleven first hand in case you missed any you can see them all on our website our team dot com. still ahead this hour christmas tragedy five separate terror attacks in nigeria blind extremists have killed at least forty with the e.u. slamming restrictions on the sale of drugs used in the u.s. tax you keep running backs american officials are running out of options. iraq has been having deeper into political crisis since the final u.s. troop withdrawal earlier this week the country has been rocked by a massive bombing in baghdad which claimed at least seventy two lives on thursday it was the worst attack in months in iraq and its leaders and gauge that take for tad the blame game over the latest wave of violence fears have been growing of a return to the sectarian conflict of two thousand and seven that left thousands

dead as the u.s. made good its promise to pull out the troops and insisted a stable country had been left behind but joseph a writer for the world socialist thinks the latest flare ups in the region are a product of the us occupation. this was not about you know securing iraq and giving it freedom it was about security in oil resources and in the process. so very intensions devastated our society and this is really the problem you have different factions of the iraqi elite who are battling over power or control over resources including particular oil contracts. and threatens to unravel into a civil war that conflict the violence in iraq is very much a product of the occupation itself and you know that's really the source of the crisis facing iraqi politics in iraq uses light i mean look at what what does occupation has produced over one million people killed by some estimates thirty

five percent of iraqi children. living doll is orphans destination of infrastructure the be entire society has been scarred by this occupation by this war. on christmas day nigeria was rocked by a series of blasts targeting christian worshipers leaving at least forty dead most started on church doorsteps after attending christmas mass authorities acknowledged a lack of ambulances in the area and warned that casualty numbers may rise the radical muslim sect boko haram has claimed responsibility for the attacks his group was involved in prolonged violent clashes with military forces that have killed at least sixty in the past few days stephen leatherman a radio host and author from chicago says april's election results contributed to the unstable situation in the country. boko haram may be an extremist islamic sect but he issue is very political corruption

cronyism deprivation human need in the last equals elections were worse than freedom fear. felt yonathan was a way he represents the christian south about half an eight year year is a muslim here in the north they will match our eyes again there they are being totally shut out of the system and jonathan is a close western characters close to washington times close big oil in the east their mayor is their man to turn the country over to big oil and let them just suck the wealth out of it expensively people vets the anger the striving these firearms . the u.s. commonly uses drugs to execute convicts but the local manufacturer cease production

last year and now the european union has restricted supplies of the federal compound but some activists saying that the chemical used is far from humane u.s. authorities may have difficulties finding a new source but as artie's ivor bennett explains the shortage could actually be making the situation worse. they've tried hanging electrocution and most recently a drug used to euthanize animals but now american jails will find it much harder to kill prisoners on death row the main supply line for its lethal injections has been cut off after the e.u. slipped new restrictions on drug exports i really think this will make a difference and we will see the effects of this this control order in the coming months that the u.s. relies on european drugs for use of executions and without them they're going to be stuck and lives will be saved specifically execution drugs are made in the e.u. but several american states have been importing sedatives instead drugs designed to

help being used to hurt. exports of drugs like sodium thiopental will now be controlled to stop their use in a three part lethal cocktail the n.-s. that it was being used to put the condemned inmate to sleep as another drug paralyzed before the final heart stopper was administered without that initial numbing stage lethal injections are unconstitutional under u.s. law the usual supply for these drugs has been dwindling since the only u.s. manufacturer ceased production last year american prisons though found an alternative source right here in west london but this fairly honest doing driving school buildings also shared by dream farmer a british firm exporting british drugs the u.s. prisons to kill people the u.k. government soon found out and banned its use so american prisons searched elsewhere r.t. reported in may now some states have begun using pen to baba told

a drug normally used to put pets to sleep that's never been tested for human executions its primary use for humans is to treat epilepsy but it has no pain killing properties many feel its use on death throes tantamount to torture this can cause excruciating pain if something goes wrong and because we have no tests we can't guarantee that nothing will get around to people at risk of not being killed being tortured to death. following a report danish manufacturer imposed their own restrictions to prevent printer barber tools misuse the new e.u. embargo covers eight barbiturates in total including painted barber tell us stockpiles will eventually run dry but many fear it's only a matter of time before prisons try again with something else unfortunately the death merchants in the us can sometimes be creative in terms of what they put to use in order to put people to death and so i think what we need is

a clause which said if other drugs should appear on the market and we discover that the u.s. is misusing those we can quickly have a quick procedure to add those to the list without you know wait another year aside from lethal injection other methods like hanging and firing squad a still sanctioned in the u.s. but in now rarely used these new restrictions may not choke off the drug supply completely but it will certainly tighten the noose on america's controversial death penalty. by the bennett artsy london. coming up r.t. special report about the people of bhopal in india who decades on are suffering from the effects of one of the world's worst ever industrial disasters that's after a recap of our main stories in just a couple minutes. thank

you for joining us in a year with our team this week's top stories right now tens of thousands gather for a peaceful rally in the russian capital demanding a rerun of the parliamentary elections and president made to meet them in video val's told reforms promising an overhaul of the country's political system. the head of the arab league's mission to syria iran is in damascus amid fresh claims of violence international pressure mounts on the syrian regime to end its crackdown on protesters as.