the end of the soviet era twenty years after its fall there's still an equal measure of love and hate for the days back in the u.s.s.r. . libya's soldiers of fortune including former terrorists head to syria take their revolution to president assad's doorstep. and pakistan looks to beijing for support tough to last month's deadly drone attack leaves the u.s. in tatters. christmas may be coming to an end in most parts of the world but even talks of the things that begun. business by the ten in twenty minutes time.

and online twenty four hours a day you're watching on t.v. well on this day two decades ago the world's largest country ceased to exist the fall of the soviet union and the end of the cold war and the birth of a dozen new states but twenty years on the collapse of the u.s.s.r. unanswered questions is a question experts. even today many generate their own explanations for the fall of the global goliath but some putting it down to the role of just a few. ok to reach gorbachev. the nineteen ninety one august coup was a turning point in the country's history with images of yeltsin standing on a tank creating a new hero yet for most here even that wasn't seen as causing a fatal crack in the soviet union it was all very sudden and. shocking

i mean there were people even months before who were shoring us that this was going to go on forever so all the billions and billions and billions that the us and put into intelligence and forecasting all proved to be completely useless the collapse of the soviet union was not so much a revolution rather it was a peaceful divorce of former republics longing for independence but the breakup led to long lasting and painful consequences pushing your savior to go so use a lot of the soviet union was really just you with a little bit of the twentieth century i seized on that order and in that assessment led him or putin is not alone older many russians began enjoying freedoms never imagined in the u.s.s.r. sixty percent still believe the collapse did more harm than good twenty years on russians still seem undecided over how to treat of the legacy of the u.s.s.r. in moscow most soviet names have long been a race from the streets and people's memories but some symbols of the parts stand

out so vividly it can feel like those two decades never happened this morning amount a worker who wasn't so took six years some thirty million dollars to restore but even the government would consider taking down what is among the most famous unofficial symbols of the u.s.s.r. . and strong were. her and a portly collective farmer were a symbol of crisp air a chance to billeted in a country with a planned economy everyone knew they would be provided with their metaphorical hammer and sickle and knew exactly how much to produce with them nine hundred ninety one changed all that the post saw it economies were shattered their deficits skyrocketed production plunged and it took them years to get back on their feet in the last years of soviet union there was a possibility before for your you know to continue with for terror and political

regime to liberalize the economy and the market in the same way as the target. but among the political elite many didn't want to support the drive to modernize and in turn save the union instead they wanted to destroy it and during that descent many republics were plunged into ethnic violence after gaining independence. when it was clear the union was falling apart it seems as though you have national minorities started writing a blanket to their side but it was at that time the orchard was relatively heated self-assertive. into its territory in syria similar ethnic clashes between armenia and azerbaijan claimed the lives of over thirty thousand people one thousand people were killed in the transnistria conflict russia remains on a peacekeeping mission there at least a thousand people were killed in a post breakup clashes between georgia and south the search here and over one hundred thousand more displaced into g q stan the consequences were the worst sixty

thousand killed and over a million people displaced even mosco itself didn't feel secure after the fall of the burden wall the world briefed a sigh of relief but it didn't last long when nato set about creating a new wall made of missiles the allies steadily moved towards russia incorporating former soviet republics but leaving most out. of europe's new security framework the west broke a number of promises to russia often russia could have expected that there wouldn't be nato expansion that. russia. would perhaps even join nato or become part of a new system of european. collective security the full of the years ceasar put an end to the cold war era forever a fundamental shift in global geopolitics with just a few now calling the shots and without a powerful counterweight today's world remains far from secure exiting the grand

children r t. but r.t. dot com we're asking what you think the collapse of the u.s.s.r. meant to the world well so far thirty eight percent of you believe communism actually offered a hope for a better future just over a third say would have been good only if nato collapsed with it and a quarter say having no soviet union that the united states go on checked remaining a few things the world is better off without the so-called evil empire and your voice now dot com home page. former libyan rebels are now chanting for syrians to follow their revolutionary path hundreds of mercenaries some of whom are said to be former terrorists are ready to pick up arms again to help overthrow president assad ati's looks on a boycott reports now from tripoli. a butcher my dad me the owner of this

kebab shop in tripoli still undecided what the most fitting term for syria's bashar al assad. is economics the biggest game in the world the syria. other syria. you can make it out of the people of syria. out of solidarity with their arab brothers the owners of the shop perhaps even put on display the syrian wrap. tricolor but they're very firm on where the revolutionary support should be and we don't want syria and its soldiers we have a and of people such as syria it is so just let it go on the subject we have all we have enough but i think yeah we want to leave. in less than three months libyan rebels have gone from being celebrated as liberators to being called occupiers shipley residents really almost every week calling on the armed militia to leave and for some of the young man who looked on the channeling enemy willing

to market their rifles syria seems like the next logical destination. your sort of we're already doing the syrian revolution and with the help of all law we will make sure that what happened in libya repeat itself in syria the libyan mother or the portraits of shaky bar are now ubiquitous on the streets of tripoli is some rebels even styling themselves to resemble the famous revolutionary. with the help of allah we can all belong to give aren't fighting for peace and freedom around the world. and it seems that che guevara's idea of exporting revolutions have gotten a second birth in the middle east the arab spring has created a boy and marketplace for soldiers of fortune the mobile one revolution to another some motivated by personal gain some by conviction others by the venture if i put them all on the vision of freedom and for now at least is the freedom to live by

the gun. as a romantic and spontaneous as it may appear aiding the syrian uprising with mercenaries may not be such a genuine move video women and children in syria gunned down by snipers are inbound on you tube while it's still unclear who is pulling the trigger there are terrorists my prayers who are shooting at six. men women and children blind terrorism random killing simply for the purpose of destabilizing the country they are from libya or they're from afghanistan or pakistan foreign fighters have been brought in here by the cia and the other western services. one man's terrorist could easily be and now a man's freedom fighter but for the united states it's now two in one day hiking but hodge one of the leaders of triple a militia was once on the cia most wanted list today he's the face of the democratic leave the who according to artists or

says not a group of several hundred leavin rebels to syria just last month. we can do to support the syrian people because they are facing the same situation as we were before and we appreciated that comes to be with. the syrian people to get their freedom i think we should do what the use of soldiers of fortune is hardly new in this troubled region middle eastern rulers hired them for centuries a save gars against their own populations and it now looks like the history of mercenaries in the middle east has got to it's new and no less bloody chapter in the wake of r.t. tripoli. well shortly we continue our look at the year's most significant events today we focus on japan's earthquake and tsunami seen through the eyes of our correspondent. arrives in the middle of the night no hotels were open the only

place to stay was actually a relief center and this was inside the local government offices and no people there who just lost everything all they had were the clothes on their bank whatever conditions they had with them at the time the earthquake struck and clearly the houses have been destroyed and they will all they had been in the relief center was was a cardboard the seat of cardboard to lie on. with this is. just history in the making . testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven r.t. . pakistan has its eyes on the east for future partnerships with the president now confirming up the country's friendship with china it's after a rocky year with america ties have been all but destroyed from the raid to kill osama bin laden without informing us other that through the last month's deadly drone attack teams should experience. the top ranking diplomat from the hu jintao

administration has said that this visit is very important marks sixty years of diplomatic ties between china and pakistan and he's hoping that this trip will bring that relationship to a new level to an all time high the leaders from both the countries talk about security regions in the area and obviously all of this comes just one month after the nato military strike on a pockets than an afghan checkpoint that actually killed twenty four pakistani soldiers all relations between pakistan and the united states as a result of that incident or i don't know all time low so many analysts are saying that this meeting could be a sign that pakistan is actually shifting towards depending more on china as opposed to the united states beijing express their solidarity with pakistan after that incident and actually a pakistani diplomat said that china has backed all of our efforts referring to that nato air strike both china and pakistan have

a lot of mutual concerns they they have a very strategic partnership one of their major focuses is on their mutual neighbor india another major focus is trying to work together to counterbalance the united states influence in this region recently china actually invested two hundred million dollars to build a port in pakistan where they're hoping there can be more energy trade between the two countries china has also worked with pakistan in the past few years to build nuclear reactors in that country let's just last month pakistan and china actually participated in military exercises together so this visit is just yet another signal that the two countries are moving closer together and you know time will tell what that means as far as the united states' influence in this region. for more on china's growing global influence we can talk to dr seuss who's

a senior. search of a school of institute for emerging market studies in beijing thank you very much for joining us here on r.t. now you are on has just hit an all time trading high against the dollar how much is the currency the reason for china's growing power do you think. well it is the part of the long term trend for you for your ends which asian. i guess when china's economy continues to grow when its trade becomes more important in the world with cards that becomes more important. the chinese yuan will continue to appreciate so i would say. that changing the path there were gay only part of this long term trend. currently. to be if people are expecting that the un will get it at about five percent a year i think if we can keep our still on the currency subject to china and japan agreed to allow firms to convert both their currencies directly into each other

without using the dollar as a middleman as it were is this part of a bigger regional step towards avoiding dollars as a reserve currency all together. well i would. some degree because. china is now the second largest economy in the world and to pay the third and the now both carcase biggest amount the biggest hit partners of each other for instance china is the biggest buyer of japanese products now but so far more than sixty percent of their trade in another car thieves such as the u.s. dollar obviously this. will actually increase the transaction calls as well as. the four exchange risk in the confections so the to do you will actually help trader on both sides. to to do trade more evading. and so in the long

roll i would think china will find more and more deals with other trade partners after all it is a fact that the u.s. dollar has been weakening things. and there you are don't look very stable in the near future so. i guess it is also part of china agenda to promote chinese to promote the use of chinese and international. stage so if you happen to happen more and more often we expect that our chinese they will be you be more accepted in the in the world affection. of course if you are long sought out we don't expect chinese r. and b. to get really convertible in the near future but again part of the long term objective ok we have to leave it there thoughts of our senior assess for the

skulker institute for emerging market studies in beijing thank you for joining us here live and out at work. you can head online for more world news at r.t. dot com how dollars make you seem deadly suspicious the security advice in the united states that says paying with cash could highlight you as a terrorist suspect. and hope floats south korea sends humanitarian aid on its way to the struggling neighbors in the north we have the details at r.t. dot com. now r.t. is remembering the ten key events of twenty that today we turn to japan's massive earthquake and tsunami that killed more than ten thousand people and also caused a series of explosions at the fukushima nuclear plant the world on watch very tom

it disaster ati's other benefits was in japan in the hours after the tragedy struck . covering the earthquake and tsunami in japan was very difficult because i was actually on my own the cameraman and producing the visa is so they had to wait and i went with a flip camera a laptop when i was there i got a satellite phone and so on the road i was trying to to do lines whenever i could set up a satellite phone trying get a link. and only when i actually got there that was when i fully understood the full force of the tsunami i didn't i didn't appreciate that until i actually saw the sea of debris lengths. and i remember actually at one point setting up the latter want on for a boat being perched on a on a on

a road and just been dumped by the tsunami. and i was quite a surreal experience definitely. to begin with very strange if you are in a building suddenly you. could feel yourself shaking slightly and it was difficult to walk in a straight line for about thirty seconds and gradually these three days i actually got used to the tremors as strange as that sounds suddenly there was there was panic i was outside of the car about to film a stand up. and the police and the emergency workers saw me just a sound saying. it was all in jack things but i could understand there was the can see the fear and panic and also they were shouting and tsunami literally yelling in my face to get back into the car there's no news crew there the shouting and then to get back in the car and go inland as fast as possible because there was this. as a threat of another another tsunami there'd been

a tremor the tide proceed in and they thought another tsunami was coming so in those moments when. we were racing inland as fast as we could weaving our way in between all the day every. member looking around and thinking hang on a minute there's no shelter here. what it was he was destroyed in the previous tsunami and there's no high ground and the only way we're going to be safe is to actually. beat the water. i had to take a taxi to sendai from tokyo to about ten hours because all the transport links were down arrived in the middle of the nights no hotels were open the only place to stay was actually a relief center and this was inside the local government offices and though people there who just lost everything all they had were the clothes on their bank whatever positions they had with them at the time the earthquake struck and clearly their

houses have been destroyed and they all they had been in the relief since it was it was a cardboard sheet of cardboard to lie on and i spent one not one night that i was pretty unbearable because it was very cold there's very little food around there were rations but people would all they had was just a cucumber and a slice of bread so that was that was one meal actually. on top of this was also the fear of radiation because the situation in fukushima was just going from bad to worse and i was always in my mind it was a very real fear you could see it. amongst everyone else also. there wasn't any visible panic it seemed like it wasn't in japanese culture to panic and such but more there was certainly fear this is a town of a war i around half way between tokyo and fukushima i'm still one hundred fifty kilometers south of the nuclear power plant but already the radiation levels here

over double that of those in tokyo began in the meeting one young fan. one young couple with a newborn baby actually just. i think a week old also been born to cover the before the before the earthquake and. the mother wasn't particularly well some of the she was very weak and obviously she wanted to stay put there from sendai but they had left they just didn't trust what the government was saying that the sister situation in fukushima was under control and they just wanted to get out they were heading heading to a kid by whatever means possible. and then suddenly the tempo changed when there was a third explosion and then the fourth explosion and different reactors in in fukushima one morning the happening very quick succession and suddenly. everyone was very scared. so all the news crews were. just suddenly packed up and left and

that really difficult for me was i was on my own i didn't have anyone else to consult. and i just realized at that point ok i'm going to get out this is the start of japan's ravaged east coast norene like by that their bridges lie strewn all over the place here the walls collapsed over here says are falling down such as the force of the tsunami this is also the point where we don't turn back because the dog account is reading the highest it has done all day one point zero four microsleep it's plain how obviously when i left japan. i felt great relief because covering the story being very stressful i barely eat in london nice legs but the story for me wasn't over until when i was back in moscow. the next day i had to get to the hospital rooms checked for radiation and thankfully i was clear. well more on the year's ten key global events as witnessed by ati's international

correspondents you can also watch their accounts of what they saw by heading to r.t. dot com. now though that scare the latest to business news with katie. hello welcome to the program christmas is in most polls the wild but the rush of the festive season has only just begun despite the europe and the u.s. still not slowing down and as marina culture of found out russia med or the full front of the seasonal spending extravaganza. here is leave as when the russians give gifts and this year they're going all out at least eighty one billion dollars will be spend this this and the fifth of that will go towards presents consumer spending is expected to increase by twenty eight percent and muscovites will withdraw twenty percent more cash than any of the month

of the year that's about five hundred sixty dollars each if you are a russian woman then you can look forward to a particularly lavish gift as man will spent twice as much i serve partners so what kind of gifts are we looking at what the most popular items are expected to be alcohol then we have a choice and finally household appliances so not all that romantic on the christmas tree and russians are not the only ones refusing to tighten their belts many experts had predicted americans and europeans would trim their spending but it's turned out to be a different story most surveys now suggest we will see an increase actually the average american is expected to spend up to twenty two percent more while in the u.k. some shops already seen an increase in sales more than last year but this may be because it's been such a tough year for ordinary working people now about the holiday season this year so

feel that they have an excuse to finally spend some money on themselves and their loved one. at least. have a look at the markets now them while your pain traders are enjoying the boxing day the russian indices are gaining the most in full trading session as on optimism the u.s. economy will continue to recover and boost global health. despite the lingering global of certain say russia is still aiming to attract a further five percent more foreign investment in two thousand and twelve presidential aides. said he expects and investors to start bringing their cash in the second quarter of next year investment into russia grew around twelve percent this shit but most of that money was short term credit which doesn't provide fundamental support for the economy. financially stricken the cyprus will

get the first tranche of a credit package from russia before the year's through the country agreed at the weekend to take a two and a half billion euros from moscow to support his economy orders up pricewaterhouse coopers calculates that around fifteen percent of cypresses g.d.p. is from foreign companies using the island as an offshore finance center the majority of the firms are fully ated with russia. russia's caucuses is a step closer to welcoming more guests as russia and france register to join to a joint venture to develop tourism in the region it plans to build five world class ski resorts and create a three hundred thousand jobs that by two thousand and twenty first the money is needed backers hope to bring in between fifteen and twenty videos to make the project a reality. russia's new suhoor super jet aircraft is set to take up to twenty

percent market share in some developing countries including those in asia and south america is make us believe that plane is a global player which will boost both the fans reputation and sales. we had to sell albert and in russia for the future not so much with asia and maybe abroad sort of there is more for that that's why we have all the people in from out west my father charles all that great deal it's got to sell and then our dog isn't the seller in the range or a one thousand or one thousand mark us all we bring us to a twenty percent market share so in twenty years time. so for now i'll be back in about fifty five minutes with another edition of business news here not a. move

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