this is a body tarzan a business but it's in twenty minutes time. hello welcome it's nine pm now here in moscow live from the capital this is my name's kevin zero in on our top story activists say tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of syria's third largest city of homs apparently emboldened by the arab league observers visit now to the country the city which is seeing some of the fiercest battles between state and opposition was the monitors first destination it supported the government tanks are withdrawn from the area after around thirty people were killed in the latest violence there a fact finding team plans to assess the real situation and ensure president assad's compliance with a regional plan to read the bloodshed let's talk more about this with a polaroid phoneys from a brussels based think tank specialist political analysis good to see it's not

a palace thanks for being on the program the arab league observers were already operating on the ground as i just mentioned there but regarding the organization stance towards the syrian regime want to talk about that first what are your thoughts about it how fair do you think their final report will be. usually in the tradition of this kind of missions like the one of the united nations and other international original going to missions which are necessary to try to have a breakthrough vision that otherwise would derail very quickly two words even more violence and the necessity of use of force even from outside so this is a way to buy time try to fix some points open doors for negotiations but it doesn't find the immediate solution this is for sure usually these kind of missions are necessary in order to appease a little bit the spirits on either side and try to negotiate behind the scenes so i do not think and i do not expect that the final report would be too harsh on one

side or another but certainly a knowledge of the events that they see but. couldn't give any hint towards the real solution so let's stop all of this is just get this straight you're saying which is basically playing for breathing space if you like the reports i'm likely to come out in a very positively or either very negatively now. yes this is this is a so-called multilateral diplomacy so the this is the way to. not to have a direct confrontation with either side all sides are taken into account. supposedly the report is objective in the sense that it will. record what it is seen on the ground but it doesn't take any stand on either side so it is not there like a national mission when you have a national involved to a country like syria that national envoy comes with

a preset vision of what he wants this kind of missions are there to open the negotiating table if there is a possibility. of safe time is ripe for negotiating for example we have exactly as the government in syria coming to this in a very willing way to get around the table and talk of in the government only pulled its tanks at arms just very recently before the observers arrived within a matter of hours before they arrived would have seemed to run against the spirit of cooperation with the league's mission. but this is a this is a play is like a game actually or what is happening in syria reminds me of my own experience when i was part of an international mission in the former yugoslavia in the former yugoslavia was happening the same there were these peace talks. prior to. the war itself. and there was the attempt to appease either side to create

a table of negotiations and a minimal basis of agreement and with syria it's happening the same i do hope that we not end up with a breakup of syria like the breakup of yugoslavia how do you personally think this is going to. sorry how do you personally think this is going to pan out out play. oh well. the the feeling is that for the time being the external powers are. actively needling with the internal situation of syria but they are not willing to commit troops for external intervention and this applies to all sides including turkey that has made it very clear however turkey is active in the syrian issues both diplomatically and indirectly through some kind of military training that is provided to the.

officers who are defeated from the officials of syria on the turkish side so. the same is done by other neighboring countries plus the international interests of syria so all of these have to conform itself most probably it's not in syria that it finds composition but outside of syria. the solution for the current president assad. is depending on what the external forces with will agree upon of on how to handle the syrian case if it is like in yugoslavia is a said it went on for about twelve to eighteen months of tentatively go shish broken peace agreements to then reach the outbreak of war the un peacekeeping that was followed by the need to need to intervention after the dayton agreement so if

that is the path and it is repeated we already know the history it will be lower here are you saying thank you for your informed thoughts on the program polar phone there are a brussels based think tank specializing from across the specializing on political analysis thank you. let me put in pledges the government will do everything possible to ensure transparency in the upcoming presidential election the prime minister said it's actually the best interest as a candid it is an italian overcover more about that announcement as well as other developments in the russian world of top level politics. russian prime minister said that the upcoming elections for the country's dob job should be transparent in order to achieve that's why i didn't want to suggest that the talks should be held with the country's opposition to hear out their suggestions on how to achieve that transparency but it was suggested that the internet should be used as a platform for such talks where people can freely express their opinions about it and of course this comes after opposition protests which took place after the

country's parliamentary elections when tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of moscow demanding to know there is also all the actions you can a day ago and you're going to misstate be specific president i want to stress that we're the first who need the transparency because we need to be sure that people support us of course there are forces to which it's not the development that is important but the turmoil of course they have their rights but the problem is that they have neither a united programs nor means of reaching their goals they just want to deal legitimize the election that's the problem today in the new was more than. in both service and presidents and the country's prime minister say that they're happy to see the faces of the opposition and to hear them out however according to guys in the woods and opposition members are not doing much for now but protesting against the newly formed why women they're not suggesting any programs or setting any vivid

schools for themselves so stinking of the consolation over the results of the parliamentary elections which the opposition is the moans in prime minister putin said that that decision can only may be made by a coup or meanwhile the architecture of the country's political system is already changing president bill gates of today appointed mr paul to be the country's deputy prime minister so the man is now out of the kremlin and he's known to be earth the chief strategist although the current ensure an all boys sees over russia that is just one over the idea suggested by president very different how to change the country's political system you're suggesting a number of reforms which would make it easier for political parties to take part in the elections and who are the presidential candidates to also produce a great in the elections for the country's top job and all of that of course is the response of the countries authorities to the protests that have been gathering tens

of thousands of people out on the streets all. demanding the cancellation of the results of the parliamentary elections. well we're talking politics we let you know as well in a few minutes all this channel we look back at some of the most significant events in russian politics of twenty eleven we've gotten this in our correspondents firsthand impressions of that as part of a pretty new year's series of reports for you. this is. two history in the making. testimony. and stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . as eurozone nations sink ever deeper into crisis the u.k. treasury now is working on a contingency plan for the single currencies collapse if it does happen it includes capital control measures that under a new rules require agreement from most of the union members now britain's also

prepared it says to close its borders and evacuating exports and holidaymakers from the affected countries if the worst was to happen robert oulds president of the brute group of campaigners against excess unification in europe i'm sure that for the server robert very good to see you tonight so what are the chief dangers that the u.k. is trying to protect itself from in case of the euro's breakup that i've been talking about. one of the main things that the british treasury is concerned about is that as the euro collapses the value of the pound would increase in value which would harm a british exports really course the treasury's mainly focusing on problems caused by the collapsing you warmer than the benefit so really it's looking at things around the wrong way there would be benefits to many nations if the eurozone did indeed collapse or was at least wound up in an orderly fashion ok but there's no sort of look at the moment is there. well the european leaders are trying to shore

up the eurozone by having greater degrees of centralization and more having countries like france and germany have the final say in a sense over the budgets of those e.u. member states that have excessive budget deficits but that really isn't the answer to the problems what's really needed is either a massive injection of cash into countries like greece and italy to shore up their economies that would be money that would have to be transferred from france and germany and other nations which have better situations than the mediterranean nations which are struggling and of course even more money from the european central bank even more than has been given already so we're talking in the trillions of euros that's what one option of course another option would have cost to recognize that the single currency has hurt competitiveness in many nations of the eurozone and the damage to economic growth meaning that the economies can't grow their way out of the debt crisis that they're in and they just in this debt

spiral and having deeper austerity measures forced upon them which then means they still cannot pay back the money that so to various financial institutions around the globe particularly french and german banks oh really there's a number of options either to transfer funds from the north to the struggling south or course have an orderly break up of the eurozone we know your general view on this is arguing it's it's always good to have a b. plan of the merge is the plan of the worst should happen but i guess the u.k. also needs to look at was going on with its european neighbors it is already vetoed that fiscal union plan proposed by europe to go down well in all quarters or what is britain doing now by talking about this new emergency plan isn't it just deepening the rift making the problem worse for itself. well britain really didn't veto an actual e.u. treaty there wasn't an actual treaty about point of proposed it wasn't even a draft established david cameron was are arguing that he would sign up to or agree

to a future discussions on a possible treaty if there was move away from qualified majority voting to having a national veto over the you have of having regulations over financial services that was rejected actually. it was sarkozy in a sense we already had a veto in his later criticized comforted criticized by the president of the european commission really what britain needs to be doing is to recognise that the euro is a mistake and in the in a stent coming up with a plan which would be trying to offset any dangers of there being a euro break up but really needs to be recognition there would be benefits there would be economic growth but eventually restored in other nations but one of the big dangers of course all that money or risk from britain's top banks they've got tens of billions of pounds exposed in the weaker euro economies in the form of loans except what's likely to happen to those if the worst what happens is this plan part of address that anyway. well the plan doesn't really recognize that the

banks would of course have problems there would be if there were to be a major d. fault if a common seas of the euro were to collapse then of course there would be less money going into those banks but of course the other assets other financial assets would wires and there could also be thought to be a break up of the euro and of course the german german come and see it would rise in value and so if they were to be to you about those in a sense they would be a sovereign. which would be of a lower value where those countries have them going competitiveness that would then mean they would be economic growth restored in the euro for say countries like germany the netherlands finland would increase in value so really there's benefits and of course there are also disadvantages british governments of course recognizes the disadvantages but doesn't do enough to realize the benefits of there being a break up of the euro there would of course be a shock that things would be eventually returning to economic growth there would be

benefits as well robert oulds thanks for your thoughts director of the bridge group campaigning against for the e.u. unification there joining us from london thank you. palestinians and besiege guards are marking three years since israel sent tanks and fighter jets to attack the operation lasted twenty two days and cost almost fifteen hundred lives and entire families were wiped out for some the battle still rages on as well only now it's in the courtroom as artie's paulus lyrics play. is unusual not because he laid a claim against israelis but because he one victory though is bittersweet. i'm a broken man who's really in the army has morals what morals are we talking about. it was december two thousand and eight for three weeks israeli soldiers bombed the gaza strip killing nearly one and a half thousand palestinians four out of five were civilians at the same time

hundreds of rockets fell on southern israel killing three israeli civilians then the government couldn't get to my home for sixteen days because the israeli soldiers were firing all the time so 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 sand and the body of my sister much to cover with some bricks. sell it took his case to the palestinian center for human rights in a president sitting move they secured an out of court settlement with the israeli military it took satellites and weeks to the to the bodies of his mother and sister because of continued fighting in the area these women military said this made the case so it's you know and they feel justified the way it's a solider sieved just under one hundred fifty thousand dollars compensation. if someone loses his leg or his hand up or is killed or injured all the money in the world is not enough but what we're fighting for here is

a financial compensation that will offer some really the palestinian center for human rights has more than two hundred cases like salaries on its books but the heavy paperwork bureaucracy and expenses discourages many others from coming forward. this man however is a rare exception he folded claim three years ago and is still awaiting a response today. i thought. it was early morning there was showing in the apartment above was on fire i want out so i with my hands up and here the soldiers told me to pull off my shirt and trousers i did what they said but they find a rocket 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 and therefore. according to the israeli

flow. for. them the state will be accepted from the sea with a judge's case will help other palestinians is not yet clear these really army is also said it's opened an investigation into what happened but so far no indictment against any israeli soldier has been followed policy r.t. . because if you missed any of our stories it was catch up with him again at r.t. dot com the very best place for you to get updated should not buy a t.v. it's a festive time of year let's get a bit of a heartwarming picture as well take a look at this lovely they would need to be aware of this particular little cute isn't it cute cubs already captured millions of hearts on lightly to see why well what is this big anyway and we'll tell you why it's being hand reared in denmark instead of getting an arctic start. and continuing the festive spirit a toast in space so a boy's first of a tease aboard the international space station as the crew prepares to see him not

one new year of course but sixteen is the whizzing around above our heads more from the gentlemen up there little bit later as well a very merry christmas and happy new year to them. let's focus in on the most significant events in the build up to this year's doomer election as part of our series revisiting the key events of twenty eleven artie's in this in our correspondent covered those developments for us and that she shares her experience of the outgoing year in russian politics. well i think that day it became clear that russian politics are changing lots of

people say that russian modern politics are stagnant that they're predicting bold but nobody that day expected that announcement to be made yes people expected and there was speculation that putin would run for president in twenty twelve but no one expected it as early as september. the first ten that this congress that united russia wasn't going to be as simple as just the platform for the do most actions being announced was lazy or 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 their 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 but he believes that the 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 meet the demands of age of will be part of united russia if you believe the list that was in it. and then of course you have to meet three men to do saying that he believes that putin 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 russia 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 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 are 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 of 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 in

a square just around the corner from the kremlin it was a saying some protest some fifty thousand people is the most common number we have on 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 in their symbol really i think a really strong example of this with these white flowers are 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 can work on all of these stories and cover elections and cover protests and that kind of be really in particular it here in moscow not a far telling the story about russia from outside of russia but being in the center of a lot. of heat in this in our weather and every day right up to the new year we're bringing you a personal view from the rest of our to international correspondents who brought

you the big stories for this very worthy year two thousand and eleven and if you missed any of them as well they're online at r.t. dot com just about twenty six minutes past nine at night moscow time in about five minutes you can stay with this is we continue to explore the most remote and untouched parts of siberia great sights and sounds coming up before the k.t. you see it with the latest business for you. hello welcome to the business program here and i'll say while a number of western economies are drowning in debt russia is on course to post a one percent budget supposition as a pretty new year holiday meeting of the government prime minister putin emphasize the improvements that have been made away from the energy sector. and gas deficit narrowed which is a very positive factor in improving your economy it shows that the effort to diversify is bearing fruit but it will be around nine point eight percent of g.d.p.

which is almost two percentage points lower than the initial phone calls made at the beginning of the year. under the economic news russia's economy expanded more than five percent in november compared to the same period last year the economic ministry says mining and electricity sectors mainly contribute is a big right but there was a slowdown in construction and investment. so let's have a look at those markets and how we all prices are on the rise as u.s. economy looks to be growing more than most of us anticipated apart from our around seven the flow of crude will be stopped on the crucial strait of hormuz waterway in the gulf of foreign sanctions are imposed on it or let sports keeping we all markets on ads. and now into the act is it us stocks are drifting close to neutral as wall street looks to find its footing after last week's gains meanwhile a closely watched followed consumer confidence index to the highest level in eight

months let's see what so what happened in here that today mostly flat supposed to pity and choose paper they love the facts it was closer to the tax they were busy open for business gaining a point to. other russian markets closed lower the out. yes also over a percent on the my sex finished a quarter of a percent in the red just a that let's have a look at some individual bank lost almost. from also finished lower the company says profits this year will be in lima forecasts a forty billion dollars a local gain a third of a percent has created a joint venture with another all come from a batch nass to develop russia's promising chaps that fill us. a lot so for now i'll be back in about fifty five minutes with another edition good bye now.

below you watching on t.v. like you did your company tonight review watching around the world these are our top stories for you the observers arrive the arab league team reaches syria's most troubled city of the reports the government tanks and pulling out. three years since israel waged the deadly assault on gaza the palestinians still struggling with its legacy ten of the courts to make amends. the latest probe into the fukushima nuclear disaster players the.