dozens of new civilian deaths reported in syria as the arab league gets ready to monitor the implementation of a peace plan but hundreds of mercenaries from abroad are allegedly fighting for regime change there. shifting to the east pakistan with an eye on its future forging fresh ties with china after last month's deadly drone attack shattered it's already tense relations with the u.s. . blessing or curse twenty years since the fall of the u.s.s.r. where opinion is still split on whether breaking up the union was the best choice for its people. while christmas is over most of the world the shopping spree in russia is on as well you know lap with russians ready to pay about sixteen billion

dollars on presents a load more details on christmas shopping and the latest business news about. five pm in moscow i met treasurer good to have you with us here on r t our top story activists in syria claim twenty seven civilians have been killed by government troops over the last day this is the primary team of arab league observers is due to arrive in the country their mission is to implement a peace plan intended to ensure the regime and its crackdown on the opposition damascus denies committing atrocities saying it's fighting an armed insurgency funded from abroad while that's yet to be independently confirm revolutionaries from other arab countries say they're willing to fight for a change in syria are unavoidable reports from post gadhafi libya. a butcher and a dad meet the eye. an hour of this kebab shop in tripoli still undecided what's

the most fitting term for syria's bashar al assad. shallots it is economically the biggest game in the end the one that syria. love and syria. yeah you can get a lot of people in syria. out of solidarity with their arab brothers the owners of the shop have even put on display the syrian rebels tricolor but they're very firm on where the revolutionary support should be and we don't want syria and its soldiers we have. and our people such as syria these are just life long if this soldier we have only 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 park in their rifles syria seems like the next logical destination. i don't know what if we're all ready to join the syrian revolution and with the help of all along we will make sure that what happened in libya repeat itself in syria the libyan man or the portraits of shaky vajra are now ubiquitous on the streets of tripoli some rebels even styling themselves to resemble the famous revolutionary. book 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 a deal with sporting revolutions have gotten a second birth in the middle east the arab spring has created a buoyant marketplace for soldiers of fortune they move from one revolution to another motivated by personal gain some by conviction all others by venture if i put out a vision of freedom and for now it is the freedom to live by the gun. as your

mantic and spontaneous as it may appear aiding the syrian uprising with mercenaries may not be such a jamia. video women and children in syria gunned down by snipers are bound on you tube while it's still unclear who is pulling the trigger yes there are terrorists who are shooting at civilians men women and children blind terrorism random killing simply for the purpose of destabilizing the country or from libya or from. pakistan's foreign fighters have been brought in here by the cia and the other western services. one for terrorists could easily be anonymous freedom fighter but for the united states it's now one of the hiking but hodge one of the leaders of tripoli militia was once on the cia most wanted list today he's the face of the democratic leader who are courting to artists or says not

a group of several hundred libyan rebels to syria just last month. we can't do any to support the syrian people because we know they are facing this situation before . it comes to be would. be would have to give i think. the use of soldiers of fortune is hardly new in this troubled region middle eastern rulers hard them for centuries a save cars against their own populations and it now looks like the history of mercenary. and the middle east has got to it's new and no less bloody chapter. artsy shipley. according to u.n. estimates more than five thousand civilians have been killed in syria since march the regime claims it's lost thousands of troops fighting against armed gangs investigative journalist terry mason thinks the foreign mercenaries are to blame for many deaths on both sides. they say delays five thousand people killed.

by security forces of course it's absurd with whom there is a lot of people killed but very few by the security forces will still be in the. groups they put inside the car but the same they use libya you know you have raise some difference to the relation between the six and the people coming from media well known syria especially that they need to go out on the off frequently via these now in turkey to organize for the fight and they had the. which was the people from my kid no responsible for the security people tonight they are you know they're inside syria and the. spanish football team was first in libya recognize them here inside of the top of beasts the so-called free. syrian army but let's

hear him. and still to come this hour a disaster of chain reaction. suddenly there was there was panic cause outside of the car about to film the sound. and the police and the emergency workers suddenly just like the sound saying. it was all inject leads but i could understand it was that you could see the fear an internal so they were seen in the tsunami literally yelling in my face to get back into the car artie's international correspondent i ever been at looking back back at the risks he faced while reporting from japan ravaged by the raw power of nature. but first pakistan facing a crisis in its relations with the us appears to be seeking more support from other powerful ally to the east china ties with america have been all but severed following last month's deadly drone strike by the us military and this year's raid to kill osama bin laden without us a lot about as forewarning the pakistani president is now firming up his country's

relationship with beijing holding talks with chinese officials last week just of chiang professor of political science at hong kong the city university says the two countries i don't think have an important partnership in pakistan to counterbalance its relationship with the us. well pakistan has been beaching spece throughout the history of the people's republic of china increasingly pakistan has so has a certain strategic value to china certainly as for your normal pakistan's relations with the united states in difficulties because of the nato attack on is a military outpost last month and to washington d.c. the fields to deliver the kind of policy. they had to stand the government and at the same time it is very significant that the top time is diplomat but he was in pakistan he met the president the prime minister the army chief of staff arguably

the most powerful soldier in pakistan as well as the chairman of the joint chiefs of stock and the head of the into services intelligence so it seems that sign would be would have been ours to give military aid to pakistan to balance against the weakening ties between pakistan and the united states and it's also possible it's high number to mediating role between the military and of government and certainly tensions between the tool have been high in the recent poll. it's a day for some to celebrate others to commiserate twenty years since the largest nation on earth was dissolved the fall of the soviet union ended the cold war creating more than a dozen new nations but sparking economic hardship and civil wars some even argue it made the world less stable by leaving the only superpower unchecked or he catarina groucho but has more. even today many generate their own

explanations for the full of a global goliath but some putting it down to the rule of just a few. or two reasons go because of jobs. 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 us that this was going to go on forever so all the billions and billions and billions that the u.s. 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 the biggest youth the liberal disaster of the twentieth century. 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 treated 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 past stand out so rigidly it can feel like those two decades never happened this morning amount a worker and golf course and 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 worker 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. nineteen ninety one changed all that the post soviet 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 a no for terror political regime to the last the economy and the market in the same way as the charter. 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 a trick gaining independence. when it was clear and was falling apart it seems as

though you have national minorities started writing a blanket to their side by the time the orchard is relatively heated self-assertive rang and applies here into its territory. 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 break up clashes between georgia and south the search here and over one hundred thousand were 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 berlin wall the world breathed a sigh of relief but it didn't last long when nato set about creating a new wall made of me sells 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 a nato expansion that. russia itself would. perhaps even join nato or become part of a new system of european. collective security for the full of the year 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 great childre our team. for is interested in your opinion today we're asking what you think a bit with the collapse of the u.s.s.r. meant for the world log on to our t dot com have your say your latest online poll right now thirty eight percent say you would have been good if nato had collapsed along with it that it left the u.s.

unchecked comes second less than a fifth are convinced that communism offered hope for a better future and a minority taking the opposite view saying the world is better off without the evil empire those numbers are there for now you can change them by participating in the vote and while you're there you can check on other stories that we have a click away. flashing dollar bills could give you a bad rap the latest security advice in the u.s. says that paying with cash could brand someone a terrorist suspect plus. a. performance of russian carroll's classical favorites in a folk songs at the kennedy center in washington played by russia's renowned year old philharmonic orchestra.

and then take a look back at the major events that shaped the year two thousand and eleven through the eyes of the correspondents covering them today focusing on japan's earthquake and tsunami that killed more than ten thousand and caused explosions at the fukushima nuclear plant raising worldwide fears of an atomic disaster are better off flecks on his experience reporting from japan in the hours following the tragedy. covering the earthquake and tsunami in japan was very difficult because i was actually on my own the cameraman and producing the visas so they had to wait and i went with a flip camera a laptop when i was there and got a satellite phone and so on the road i was trying to do live stream of or 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 see you every legs. and i remember actually at one point setting up the lamp to want on for a boat the bin perched on a on a on a road and just being dumped by the tsunami. and i was quite a surreal experience definitely. to begin with very strange if you were 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 the strange as that sounds suddenly there was there was panic i was outside of the car about to film the stand up. and the police and the emergency workers suddenly just like the sound seeing. it was all in jack rings 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 chanting and then to get back into the garden and go in and as fast as possible because there was this. as the threat of another another tsunami there'd been a tremor the tide proceeded and they thought another tsunami was coming so and then in those moments when. racing inland as fast as we could weaving our way in between all the daybreak. remember 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. 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 the people there 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 center was it was a cardboard the seat of cardboard to lie on and i spend one not one night that i was pretty unbearable because it was very cold and there's very little food around and one of their rations but it 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 the situation to sheen 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 scene like it was in japanese culture to panic and such but more there was certainly fear this is a town over a war i around halfway 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 are going to make meeting one young fan. emilie 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 this is soup 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 on the 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've got 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 so walls collapsed over here else these are fallen down such as the force of the tsunami this is also the point where we're going to turn back because big dog account is reading the highest it has done all day one point zero. microsleep it's plain how obviously when i left japan. i feel great relief because kareena story's been very stressful by then he eats in london he slips 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. every day up to up till the new year will bring you more personal reflections from our reporters on the scene at the events that molded the year in news two thousand and eleven and if you missed any then you can find them again on our web site r t dot com let's turn now to some other stories making headlines across the globe a suicide attackers killed at least seven people in iraq injured thirty two others by detonating a car bomb during the middle of morning rush hour bomber drove his vehicle into a security checkpoint outside the interior ministry five policemen are among the dead is after a series of bombings that killed at least seventy two people last week just a few days after u.s. troops pull out of iraq nobody's claimed responsibility yet but the suicide attacks are a hallmark of al qaeda. the international community's condemned sunday's bomb attacks

in nigeria that claimed at least thirty nine lives including children series of blasts happened outside churches and targeted worshipers during christmas prayers the militant islamic group boko haram has said it carried out the attacks they want to impose islamic sharia law across the country which is almost equally split between christians and muslims. south korea's former first lady leaves we hope is having a morning delegation to north korea to pay respects to the late leader kim jong il they've met his youngest son kim jong un who's been named as a successor the group is in pyongyang as part of a two day visit but are not representing the government the former first lady said in a statement she hoped the trip would help improve relations between the countries that remain technically at war the north korean leader kim jong il died from a heart attack almost ten days ago. i mean she's up next with the latest business update stay with us.

there's you know welcome to business see the destiny of the south stream project seems to be hanging on the outcome of russia's gas talks with ukraine gas from c.e.o. alexei miller says the prospects for the pipeline are tied into the outcome of the ongoing energy dispute russia began the south stream project in order to secure the livery of gas to europe without having to go for ukraine that was of the key have caused the transit disruptions say the cost of russian energy supplies was too high as the price talks have now got off the ground analysts say russia could cut the capacity of south stream or even stop the project neatly. comes to. christmas is over in most parts of the world but in russia the first of season has only just begun despite the debt concerns in europe and the u.s. shoppers still aren't slowing down and as many of the costs are found out russian man at the forefront of the spending extra for guns.

here is leave as well the russians give gifts and this year they're going all out at least eighty one billion dollars will be spend this the center and the first 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 other month of the year that's about five hundred sixty dollars each if you are a russian woman and you can look forward to a particularly lavish gift as many ball spent twice as much ice or partners so what kind of gifts are we're 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 under the christmas tree and the 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 turning 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 that the holiday season is here so feel that they have an excuse to finally spend some money on themselves and their loved ones. while stock traders are probably the ones rushing to malls right now is a quiet day while european traders are enjoying boxing day rush and then the sea. and then trade gating are the most in four trading sessions that's when optimism the u.s. economy continues to recover helping boost global output rushing investors are moving back into stocks now for safe haven assets like foreigners gold out of finding around one percent this hour blue chips are high of banks in the lead as

burbank and b two b. both up more than one percent gazprom and other energy shares are up in service like me. so for now we will be back in fifty five minutes time with an update i'll see that join if. you're.

the least experienced. and untouched. surrounded by steep rock. on display for thousands of. eastern. on c. well into the. technology innovation hall the list of elements from around russia. to history.

two thousand. in two thousand and ten especially konami exulted for industrial production was established in russia somalia region with a total area of six hundred sixty ect as. its investors are granted exclusive tax and customs benefits which includes a five exemption from property land and transport taxes as well as an income tax reduction to fifteen point five percent. the special economic zone operates as a free customs own which enables manufacturers to market their products in russia free of employer duties to some our region is currently witnessing a sewage infrastructure construction to some our region special economic zone promises.