a a myth. dozens of new civilian deaths reported in syria as the arab league gears up to monitor the implementation of a peace plan but hundreds of mercenaries from abroad allegedly fighting for regime change they're. shifting to the east pakistan turns an eye on the future forging fresh ties with china after last month's deadly drone attack shattered 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 the breakup of the union was the best choice for its people. and on monday boxing day the russian mob did some of the few which were trading again more than one sense of the best session in full we'll tell you more about that in twenty minutes it's.

seven pm in moscow i'm at treasure good to have you with us here on our t.v. our top story activists in syria claim twenty seven civilians have been killed by government troops over the last day this is a primary team of arab league observers due to arrive in the country the mission is to implement a peace plan intended to ensure the regime end 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 confirmed revolutionaries from other arab states say they are willing to fight for a change in syria or sex on a boy who reports for a post gadhafi libya. a butcher a dad the owner of the keep up shop in tripoli still undecided what's the most fitting term for syria's bashar al assad the status of his second image that begins

him in the in the light of the city. not the city of. you kids the kids a lot of the people in the city. 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 it is all just like only 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 tripoli residents rally 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 part with their rifles syria seems like the next logical destination. your we're all ready to join 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 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 idea of exporting revolutions have gotten a second birth in the middle east the arab spring has created a boy and market place for soldiers of fortune the mobile one revolution to another some motivated by personal gain some by conviction all there is by venture if i put them all in the vision afraid them and for now at least in the freedom to leave by the gun. as are mantic and spontaneous as it may appear aiding the syrian uprising

with mercenaries may not be such a jane in the video women and children in syria gunned down by snipers or inbound on youtube. well it's still unclear who is pulling the trigger it's there are terrorists who are shooting at civilians 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 anonymous freedom fighter but with the united states it's now. a big hike in but hides one of the leaders of chippewa a militia was once on the cia most wanted list today he's the face of the democratic leader who according to r.t. still is this not a group of several hundred lieben rebels to syria just last month. we can do in

here to support the syrian people because we know they are facing the same situation as before and do but if it comes to be would. the syrian people have to give i think we should do it 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 mercenaries in the middle east has got to its new and no less bloody chapter in the wake of artsy tripoli. 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 foreign mercenaries made me to blame for deaths on both sides. they say there is five thousand people killed. by over security forces of course it's absolutely all of a is

a lot of people killed but very few by the security forces will solve them by this are my groups they put inside the court with the same armor groups they use in libya you know you will raise some different civilization but to have six hundred people coming from libya well now in syria especially with the military governor off tripoli libya is now in turkey to organize all the fight and there the particularly big guard which was the people from like ada no responsible for the security people that are now they are now all of them inside syria and the same spanish reporter was first in libya recognize them here in the inside of the top of the say so called the free syrian army but not syria. still to come this hour disastrous 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 dislike the sound saying. it was all injective system but i could understand the city see the fear on internals that they were seeing tsunami in this way yelling only face to get back into the car. party's international correspondent i ever better looking back at the risk you face 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 another 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 his lot of bads knowledge pakistani the pakistani president now forming up the country's relationship with beijing holding talks with chinese officials last week joseph chang a professor of political science at hong kong city university says the two

countries have an important cooperative partnership allowing pakistan to counterbalance its relationship with the us. pakistan has been beating spece throughout the history of the people's republic of china increasingly pakistan has has a certain strategic value to china certainly is feel normal pakistan's relations with the united states in difficulties because of the nato at packed on is military outpost last month and the washington d.c. the feels to deliver kind of policy defy be pakistani government and the same time it is very significant that the top chinese diplomat but he was in pakistan he met the president the prime minister the army chief of staff aga. brede the most powerful soldier in pakistan as well as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the head of the into services intelligence so it seems that china would

be would have been ours to give more 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 a player so to mediating role between the military and the government and certainly tensions between the tool have been high in the recent year also. it's a day for some of the celebrating others commiserate twenty years since the soviet union was dissolved the fall of communist rule ended the cold war created more than a dozen new nations but also sparked economic hardship and some regional conflicts are catarina gretsch of more. even today many generate their own explanations for the fall of a global goliath but some putting it down to the role of just a few. i'll give you two reasons 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 fetal crack in the soviet union it was very sudden and shocking i mean there were people here 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 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 was the biggest political disaster of the twentieth century it was on that road and in that assessment 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 rigidly it can feel like those two decades number high. and this one human to worker and go 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 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 a soviet union there was a possibility before us over here you know to continue with for terror and political regime but to liberalize the economy in the market in the same way as authorities. 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 or before when it was clear the union was falling apart it seems for you the national minority started dragging the blanket to their side but there was at that time the georgia vasily included self-assertive and apprise year into its territories 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 were displaced into g q stan the consequences were the worst sixty thousand killed and over a million people displaced even mostly with so didn't feel secure after the for. all of the berlin rule the world breached a sigh of relief but it didn't last long when nato set about creating a new wall made. the line steadily move 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 to there wouldn't be a nato expansion that. russia itself would perhaps even join nato or become

. a new system of european. collective security the feel of the us is sark 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 sixty mcgrath childre r t. i was interested in your opinion today we're asking what you think what do you think the collapse of the u.s.s.r. meant for the world log on to our website r.t. dot com take part in our latest web poll for this hour for your first sentence say if the collapse would have been good if nato had collapsed wrong with it more than a quarter of you think it left us unchecked some think that communism offered hope for a better future that's coming in third and a minority so far taking the opposite view about the same about saying that the

world is better off without the evil empire those the numbers for now you can go online cast your vote at r.t. dot com the wire there you can check out many other stories that are a click away. how flashing dollar bills could give you a bad rap the latest security advice in the u.s. says that paying with cash could do with terror suspects and. performance of russian carroll's classical favorites in focus songs at the kennedy center. in washington played by russia's renowned year old the harmonic orchestra. take a look back now at the major events that shaped the year through the eyes of our reporters covering them today the focus is on japan's earthquake and tsunami that killed more than ten thousand caused explosions at the fukushima nuclear plant

raising the worldwide specter of atomic disaster or he's ever better reflect 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 camera man and producing even 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 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 their legs. and i remember actually at one point setting up the lap to

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 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 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 suddenly just like the sound seeing. 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 the

threat of another another tsunami there'd been a tremor the tide proceed in 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 day every. member looking around and thinking hang on a minute there's no shelter the. 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 they were 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 the house had 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 spend one not one night that i was pretty unbearable because it was very cold there's very little food around there were rations for people would all they had was just a cucumber and a slice of bread 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 was in any visible panic scene like it wasn't in japanese culture to panic and such but more there was certainly fear this is a town of oh all right around half way between tokyo and fukushima i'm still one

hundred fifty kilometers south of all of the nuclear power plant but already the radiation levels here over double lot of those in tokyo are going to make 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 that they had left they just didn't trust what the government was saying that this is troops situation in fukushima was under control and they just wanted to get out they were heading heading to turkey by whatever means possible. then suddenly the tempo changed when there was a third explosion and then the fourth explosion and the different reactors in fukushima one morning by having a 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 life by the day every just lies strewn all over the place here a walls collapsed over here elss of fallen 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 been very stressful i barely eaten up any sleds but the story for mean wasn't over though 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.

remember every day up till the new year we'll be bringing you more personal reflections from our correspondents in the field on the events that shaped the news in this year and if you missed it and then you can always catch them again our web site r t dot com let's turn now to some other stories making headlines across the globe a suicide bomber has killed at least seven people in iraq injured thirty two others by detonating a car full of explosives in the middle of morning rush hour he drove his vehicle into a security checkpoint outside the interior ministry five police men among the dead this after a series of bombings that killed at least seventy two people last week just a few days after the u.s. troops pull out no one claimed responsibility yet but suicide attacks are a hallmark of al qaeda in iraq. international communities condemned sunday's bombings in nigeria that claimed at least thirty nine lives including children the blast took place outside of churches and targeted christmas day worshippers the militant islamist group boko haram said it carried out the attacks the group wants to impose strict sharia law across the country which is split almost equally

between christians and muslims. and so furious former first lady leaves we hope he's heading a morning delegation to the north 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 to groups in pyongyang as part of a two day visit but are not representing the south as government former first lady said in a statement she hoped the trip would help improve ties between the two countries which are technically still a war the north korean leader died from a heart attack nearly ten days ago i'll be back with headlines after the latest business news with dmitri stay with us. hello and welcome to the program the destiny of the south stream project seems to be hanging on the outcome of russia's gas talks with ukraine that's according to gazprom c.e.o. alexei miller russia began the south stream project in order to secure the livery

of gas for europe without having to go through a crane that was after key of course transit disruptions saying 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 altogether if ukraine comes to agreeable terms. christmas may be over in most parts of the world but in russia the first of season has only just begun despite their concerns in europe and the u.s. shoppers still aren't slowing down and there's marina costa a found out russian men are at the forefront of the seasonal spending extra they get. years 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 the center 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 madame boll spent twice as much as their partners so what kind of gifts are we're looking at while 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 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 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 seeing 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. second to the markets while european traders were enjoying boxing day russian izzy's were gaining the most in a four trading sessions as my six and up more than one percent i was on optimism the u.s. economy will continue to recover helping first level out now rushing best is indeed moving back into stocks therefore safe haven assets like holders gold out of the game sit down one. percent but blue chips were high as burbank or one of the top gainers of points when they present in gas from among other energy shares was. using bricks now despite the lingering global financial uncertainty russia's still aiming to attract a further five percent more foreign investment in twenty twelve presidential way that i got called which says he expects investors to start bringing their cash in

the second quarter of next year investment in russia grew around twelve percent this year but most of the money was short term credit which should doesn't provide fundamental support. russia's caucus is a step closer to welcoming more gas as russia and france registered a joint venture to develop tourism in the region plans to build five world class ski resorts and create over three hundred thousand jobs by twenty twenty first so he money is needed back as hoped to bring in between fifteen and twenty billion euros to make the project a reality. financially stricken cyprus will get the first tranche of a credit package from russia before the year's through country agreed upon recant to take to a halt billion euros from moscow to support its economy or its pricewaterhouse coopers calculates that around fifteen percent of cyprus is g.d.p. is from foreign companies using the i'll does an offshore finance center the majority of the firms are actually affiliated with russia. as often as the

headlines are next with. the booming. culture is that so much now lot of people are curious that is it all worth trying to for twenty years ago in historic event time from the soviet union came to an end and with it the conclusion of the cold war what is the soviet union's.

feel. to the of the beyond the beyond the be. the be. wealthy british style it's a small town to its highest point.