free broadcast video for your media project free video r.t. dot com. arab league observers arrived in a syrian flashpoint town of homs to assess months of bloodshed amid doubts over the independence and objectivity of their mission. seeking justice for those killed in the gaza war it's three years since the israeli offensive but the battle is far from over the palestinians who. go to court. from putin's really run for the presidency the parliamentary election that sparked mass protests we revisit the developments in russian politics in our series on twenty seven key events. and one of the main business of the past year is the launch of the nord stream pipeline tell you all about that in the

business both our. news and much more twenty four hours a day this is our carriage with more than twenty people reportedly killed in fresh violence in syria fifty arab league monitors are heading to the most turbulent city of homs due to assess president assad's response to the anti-government protests but middle east experts doubts the observers can be objective. you have to kind of look at the history of the arab league which today many many critics might refer to as the american league or the british league where the french league i don't think that it's an independent and i don't think that anyone or many i believe many people would agree with me when i say that it's not clear whether their interests

are with the interests of the of the arab people i think it's clear that there are . opposing sides in syria right now there is the government but the government has different layers and there are opposition groups and they're not all united. or direct the beirut based center for middle east studies says he doubts the observers can tell the difference between armed insurgents and peaceful civilians no one can deny the presence of the answer vary in syria even hillary clinton did recognize this and said they are and was drowned except the like that there are many. as they mix between civilians and children because when they talk about thousand of people killed in syria they don't mention. civilians and we cannot deny that. about two thousand.

or so it is this year that wouldn't those observers are going to see the you see on that was going on. the claim that the extremists are fighting in syria shared by some foreign journalists working on the ground here in my son tells us in detail later however it's by some forces to turn the conflict into a full scale civil war or failing because what's ahead next. i think that would be true to destabilize the country. we see a lot of people to. but this is not a good war. to enter with inside. using proxy. problem.

it's three years since garza was pounded by relentless israeli bombing and invasion that lasted twenty two days offensive killed almost fifteen hundred palestinians many families being wiped out for many the battle has now shifted to the courts as artie's reports. a judge is unusual not because he laid a claim against the israelis but one victory though is bittersweet. i'm a broken man israel you say their army has no morals morals are they talking about it. it was december two thousand and eight for three weeks israeli soldiers bombed the gaza strip killing nearly one and a half thousand palestinians for all to five were civilians at the same time hundreds of rockets fell on southern israel killing three israeli civilians the government over the couldn't get to my home for sixteen days because the israeli soldiers were firing all the time soon as they left i went down inside on the walls

the soldiers had written you'll find the bodies fifty meters away i found the body of my brother buried in the body of my sister much to cover with the bricks. solide took his case to the palestinian center for human rights in a president sitting moves they secured an out of court settlement with the israeli military it took selecting weeks to achieve the bodies of his mother and sister because of continued fighting in the area these women military says this made the face situation over and therefore justified with the way said. just under one hundred fifty thousand dollars compensation. if someone loses his leg or his hand up or risk killing or injuring the all the money in the world in the other and. we're fighting for here is a financial compensation it will offer some relief from. the palestinian center for human rights has more than two hundred cases on its books but the heavy paperwork

iraq received and expenses discourages many others from coming forward this man however is a rare exception he filed a claim three years ago and is still awaiting a response today. from thought. it was early morning there was showing an apartment above was on fire i want to start with my hands up in the the soldiers told me to pull off my shirt and trousers i did with a suit but they found a rock i would behind me my mother had been blown apart i recognized her by the ears of my two year old daughter my father my aunts my cousin my entire family was killed at that moment but convincing israeli authorities that compensation is due can be a major obstacle if it's in there before usually military operation far according to the israeli caseload. give the best actor for. them the state will be exempt from or near the city where the saddle up will have judges

case will help other palestinians is not yet clear these radio army has also said it's opened an investigation into what happened but so far no indictment against any israeli soldier has been filed here r.t. . well still ahead for you this hour getting to know kim jong il's successor is about the world knows almost nothing about who now runs north korea not a trace is the line back to switzerland meet a man who says he shared a classroom with kim jong un. into delusion drugs firms in the us preying on americans pill popping culture and keeping the nation know while pumping profits. r.t. has been reflecting on this year's most significant events and it's definitely been an unusual one for russian politics the ruling united russia party lost popularity in the parliamentary poll but that didn't stop protests against the results artes and these are now a cover developments from the outset and shares now her experience of how it

unfolded. well i think that day it became clear that russian politics are changing lots of people say that russian modern politics are stagnant but they're predicting bold but nobody that day expected that announcement to be made yes people expected and there was speculation that they would run for president twenty but no one expected it as early as september. the first hint that this congress of united russia wasn't going to be as simple as just the platform for the being announced was glazier putin and. entering the hall on time exactly when it was supposed to start together and that's when the atmosphere inside the hall kind of changed everyone thousands of people at the same time you could feel the energy

going something's going to happen today. first to come up on stage was lead singer putin and he made the big announcement which no one expected that he believes that . top of the list for the duma lections in december. after that everyone thought ok that's it this is the big news we felt something in the air that something was going to happen and now it's been announced to me three major major will be part of united russia he will be the list that was in it. and then of course you have saying that he believes that. should run for president in twenty twelve and there was just this uproar explosion of applause at least certainly in united russia people there i think were genuinely surprised like i said no one expected this to come today they thought they were coming to hear what their plans for the dumas elections were. the elections this year.

were a big deal first of all because. clearly united. has lost popularity and the ironic thing is you have people who referred to the vote to demonstrate how much they popularity but then also refer to the same exact vote saying that it was falsified so how can you refer to a vote that you don't think was real to demonstrate this kind of popularity think this was an interesting to thing to me as a journalist covering the elections. so we have a lot of western publications and networks referring to this popularity fall for united russia which certainly you can feel it happened a lot of people i think went out to vote against united russia it's not a secret that the opposition in russia for twenty years hasn't really been able to get it together you have these figures like journal. who are very well known and and they're part of that whole stagnation because they've been around for years but

you don't have any real opposition and i think that's what this young generation these so-called hipsters that that are part of social networking and are on twitter and facebook and trying to be part of politics that's what they came out to vote they really came out to vote to send a message to united russia and that became very clear they lost. you know two thousand and seven it was some sixty four percent and it's just under fifty percent this time around so clearly united russia has a lot of work to do in this became very visible in these elections also course in the protests that we're seeing straight after the elections on monday we saw people come out to choose to prove which is not very far from the from the kremlin thousands of people opposition members were arrested the interesting part about being in moscow at this time is to see how many different networks cover it differently you have. russian state television only covering it when it gets really big you have western media covering any little meeting that happens in the center

of moscow many times exaggerating the situation. and then the saturday after the election you really had it's fair to say historic day in russia you had tens of thousands of people who came out to buy a lot maya square just around the corner from the kremlin it was the same protest some fifteen thousand people is the most common number we have all the figures do vary depending on who you ask peacefully protesting for fair elections and you had the riot police and officials just letting them do their thing and their symbol really i think a really strong example of this where these white flowers or these white ribbons and there's pictures of actual riot police holding these flowers and it was certainly a feeling that day for me that it's such an interesting time to be in russia and i'm glad to be someone that they can they can work on all of these stories and cover elections and cover protests and and kind of be really in the thick of it

here in moscow not a far telling the story about russia from outside of russia but being in the center of it all. well every day right up to new year will bring you more personal reflections from our international correspondents on the events that dominated the news in twenty that. if you missed any you can watch them any time at r.t. talk. north korea's lately that came during l. will be buried tomorrow what the world's two wants to know is where the often unpredictable country will go next three things are known about his successor except that he's in his twenty's and studied in switzerland what is where if a national spoke to one of his former classmates the shed some light on the bow on the heads of the world's most secretive country. the death of the north korean dictator has raised questions and hopes over whether the dictatorship one of the last in the world will follow or will this extremely closed society

remain isolated condit's new leader to so little is known about the lately there is a great successor his third and youngest son name is a bit of a dark horse even his age remains a subject of speculation his thought to be twenty seven all twenty eight you know his new ascension to power increases the media hunger for information about him so his expensive education in switzerland said lead tracked it's a lot more interest and entrepreneur in moscow with russian origins allison hug and she believes he could have been one of kim's classmates when news spread that kim charney may have gone to an elite school in this week's margins in late ninety's the businessman brought out his all the book to refresh his memory there were quite a few koreans. quieter than others. with the last name

came. as kim is the most common name in korea alexander remembers the koreans always different from other students they were very disciplined very disciplined as a group of students. very serious for their. they wouldn't always take part in. fun and games at the other students were very hard studying to be top because they didn't like to lose although some think the deceased leaders son may be a figurehead overshadowed by his recently promoted uncle who thought to wield the real power alexander says the three years channel has apparently spanned europe may change the country's future forever i think. it will make him realize that he has to do something good for his people for his country and make a change in terms of. past experience his knowledge of foreign languages

and the skills that he managed to to attain being a world the outside world used to get most of the news from behind north korea's iron curtain through the country's strictly censored state run media covering the life of the secrets of society from the inside has been an almost impossible task for international journalists but the details now emerging about the new leader is exposure to the liberal west or for a glimmer of hope that he may ease bag the rigid control over the two terran regime and begin to open north korea to the war old and maybe their war old to north korea . ati. dot com has plenty of video comments and analysis to explore let's take a brief look at what's being lined up for you right now a titanic tusk as the hundredth anniversary of the world's most notorious maritime disaster approaches eight phyllis tourists head on discovery to that tree rock.

band the polar bear cub that will melt your heart meet a little further who's already got millions of fans due to this cuddly video. and why he's had to be hundred denmark all the details of. pakistan's army is rejecting the key findings from america's investigation into how it's drones killed twenty four pakistani soldiers last month u.s. president saying that both sides should share the blame but also do little to restore the all but shattered relationship between the two countries. makes you contribute to it says america is trying to offload responsibility for its blunders

. the results of the investigation regarding the u.s. unfortunate raid across the afghan pakistani border were neither conclusive for the u.s. military on the ground nor for the pakistani army in fact the pakistani military flatly denied the results in fact that pakistan or action to the pentagon investigation was totally predictable the pentagon announcement states that the u.s. forces involved in this baleful accident acted in self-defense and really appropriate use of force after being fired upon these particular awardee in. northward attempt to exonerate the u.s. chain of command for taking such an erroneous and baleful decision and tacitly shift the blame to the pakistani side small wonder the pakistani leadership at large and especially them militarily or ship what enraged by the conclusions.

all the pentagon investigation. more of the world's news now first to japan where the scale of the nuclear accident at the fukushima nuclear plant is being blamed on a lack of preparedness and response phase a new government study found the plant's operators did not properly on the impact of the massive tsunami that struck in much the vicinity was severely damaged of the disaster and explosions at four reactors there cooling systems failed officials said last week that the plant was now stable but winding down to take decades to complete. a teenager has been stabbed to death in london's oxford street during one of its busiest shopping days in the eighteen year old was attacked in a footwear store before staggering into the street crowded with thousands of post christmas bargain hunters a second man was wounded nearby in another stabbing shortly after. that incident was related fourteen people have been arrested. the flash floods which

destroyed parts of the philippines have now claimed fifteen hundred lives decomposing bodies have been seen in the sea sixty miles from the worst hit areas this has been widened with emergency crews continuing for as long as bodies are being recovered with dead not been identified. united states has a passion for pills the country holds the record as the world's biggest users of psychotropic drugs consuming sixty percent of them and pharmaceutical firms are keen to keep cashing in on the multibillion dollar market even if it costs people's health is artie's report not reports. america is regarded as a country with the ravenous appetite for consumption today a widespread fondness for pharmaceuticals has turned the us into a nation of popper's bipolar depression doesn't have to consider here's me and

here's my depression. you know when you feel the weight of sadness you may feel exhausted hopeless and anxious with over fourteen billion dollars in annual sales anti-psychotics remain america's top selling therapeutic class of prescription drugs this is a medical journal dr harriet fraud believes big pharma has manufactured a climate of insanity by manipulating and even creating illness for capital gains the advertising strategy is to have a big diagnoses and then flying wiggle room so that they apply to everybody prescription nexium the u.s. is the only western country that allows direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs this ad for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder warns that untreated patients will likely end up divorced and this commercial for so long i mean a lot of this is assuming you have to be alone but side effects may include dry mouth

insomnia sexual side effects diarrhea nausea and sleepiness the critics also say big pharma uses its financial muscle to provide doctors with gives cash kickbacks and research funding in exchange for endorsing or prescribe big the latest and most lucrative drugs what you have is a whole network of doctors who are hustling these drugs if a patient comes in with a knee injury and says i'm so sad oh are you depressed hey write a prescription they're given out like him and then last year her scription drug abuse became the number one cause of accidental death with more than thirty thousand americans overdosing blood sugar has been reported missing and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to calm the number of children consuming anti-psychotic medication doubled in the past decade millions of american adolescents are taking drugs like adderall doled out by doctors to treat

hyperactivity only. drugs are very very similar to illicit are illegal drugs are dangerous now one is a little safer but you should note sure pfizer america's most profitable pharmaceutical company makes anti-depressants not only for people but also for adam and in two thousand i love pharma giant paid two point three billion dollars to settle civil and criminal allegations over illegally marketing one of its drugs it was the largest health care fraud settlement in the middle by two ever been seen by all u.s. drug companies that being said the money reportedly amounted to less than three weeks worth of pfizer drug sales the pharmaceutical industry remains the most profitable business in the u.s. more success and financial gain for the companies will always remain possible as long as more americans are encouraged to take drugs. r.t.

new york but a few minutes to russia reacts as we talk to the deputy foreign minister to assess the year's ups and downs and look ahead to the country's global prospects for next year that's often business but it's in the touch him. it's twenty four minutes past the hour welcome to the business program here on r.t. as twenty eleven is coming to an end of business r.t. looks back at the highlights of the year this tuesday with focus on the north stream pipeline one of the most important international projects in the energy sector it started taking gas from russia to germany in november and we don't call reports on what it took to launch the longest subsea pipeline in the world. they said it wouldn't be possible too expensive too long too complicated nevertheless stream came to life it took four years of planning and eighteen months

of construction and the pipeline was launched on the eighth of november twentieth levon with the valve like a wheel of fortune turned in europe's favor let's now take a look at this map over here the whole goal of building this immense one thousand two hundred twenty two kilometer undersea pipeline is to deliver gas to europe and of void having to go through countries like ukraine which at times prove themselves as not safe partners to russia the first completed line is transporting twenty seven and a half billion cubic meters of gas a year and will double once the second one is completed and that's expected in the fourth quarter of twenty twelve this will be enough for twenty six million european households and around a half of what is currently going for ukraine north stream goes through the territorial waters of five countries so it took a lot of time to conduct all necessary ecological research to make sure it's safe there for the four years in the making and of course a lot of money to seven point four billion euros to be exact this meant many

experienced partners gazprom understandably took fifty one percent a majority controlling stake in the project germany's windows hole in the on rule goes to fifteen and a half percent each and that. french g.d.s. was hold one percent each this excess of the project made goes from confident and in september the shareholder agreements for south stream assisted to north street was signed but now europe is worried is becoming too dependent on russian gas which already accounts for twenty five percent of its demand but with ongoing instability in the north african region projects like nordstrom unsure diversity and therefore security. and let's now take a quick look at markets oil first crude prices are trading flat near the highest levels and about two weeks light sweet is that below one hundred dollars a barrel while brant is trading at more than one hundred eight dollars a barrel. and i want to act with these traders pretty thin in asia tokyo than in

case dropping less than half a percent given up some of the previous day's games bucking the trend is toyota it's putting on almost a quarter percent after unveiling a new hybrid car they are quite monday and hong kong the hang seng remains closed for the holidays you are seeing the closing papers from a last friday. it's so one hour ahead of the opening bell here in moscow the russian market saw the monday had a pretty bullish day they gain the most in four trading sessions both the r.t.s. and the why six vanished more than one percent in the black all eyes are on the u.s. markets now they'll reopen on tuesday after a holiday weekend if you're prior from troika dialog says the growth is likely to continue but in pretty low volumes. big positions won't be opened or closed till the end of this year i think everyone already kind of done what they wanted to do in this year but i wouldn't exclude some speculative trading and maybe some when the trashing before the end of the year usually the last week of the year it's

growing week so i would expect say ten or fifteen percent growth but i would be surprised to see both five maybe six percent growth through the end of the year. and that's all the latest from the business team i'll be back here in about fifteen minutes joined me about.

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