streets of canada. trying to operations are today. tonight should our team be observers arrived the arab league team reaches syria's most troubled city amid reports that government tanks are pulling out. three years since israel waged a deadly assault on gaza the palestinian still struggling with its legacy turn to the courts to make amends. did our series about twenty eleventh's most significant events our correspondent shares her personal experience of explaining it was rigged to change kids at the top in russia. hello one i am here now in moscow you're watching. live my name is 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 to the country now the city which has seen some of the fiercest battles between state and opposition was indeed the monitors first destination it's reported the government tanks were withdrawn from the area after around thirty people were killed in the latest violence there the fact finding team now plans to assess the real situation and ensure president assad's compliance with the original plan to end the bloodshed but there are doubts over the mission's impartiality. the have to investigate activities of the free syrian army these are mercenaries in the sector it's all are armed by outside powers did these outside powers are basically from qatar and the emirates we all know the arab league which is now called troll bait did she see the gulf cooperation council interesting themselves in this case

we still don't know although i do go into investigating the need to call truly call in center set up in the. near the border between syria key and syria in the skin the room which is very across the border basically from aleppo let's see two hours early going to investigate that you are really going to hurt first against shipment stand smuggling weapons by the jordanian syrian border we still don't know but it's a tall order for the area each full season there easer not exactly democracies they are investigating one of their all but they're also implicated in the whole big picture. the claim that the syrian opposition is being backed by extremist fighters shared by foreign journalists working on the ground later this hour r.t. here's my french reporter who exposed the rest through eyewitness accounts.

i i think that all of the the action to destabilize the country are not working we see a lot of people killed but this is not perceived war quite well if they want to interweave throwing troops inside leg. using proxy from the gulf can see. the problem because based company is ready for about. the duma putin pledges the government will do everything possible to ensure transparency in the upcoming presidential election his words come amid reshuffles at the top with the leading kremlin strategy is taking up a new government post at his new tele nova called the report. russian prime minister said that the upcoming elections for the country's dub job should be transparent in order to achieve that budget but 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 sunday's parliamentary elections when tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of moscow demanding to know there is all the actions you could a day ago and you're going to misstate the species president is who 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's 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 of the election that's the problem today. 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 what he would put in opposition members are not doing much for now but protesting against the newly formed parliament meanwhile the architecture of the country's political system is already changing presents me with the difficult of budgets laughs too cool to be the country's deputy prime minister so the man is now out of the kremlin and he's known to be the chief strategist over . the current internal policies over russia that is just one over the ideas suggested by president videos on how to change the country's political system culo suggested a number of reforms which would make it easier for political parties to take part in the elections and for the presidential candidates to also pretty surprised in the elections. now later in the program r.t. recalls for the most significant events in twenty eleven in russian politics you can see our correspondence first hand impressions as part of our series of new year

. blocks of people say that russian modern politics are stagnant that are predictable but nobody that day expected that announcement to be made yes people expected and there was speculation that they would run for president twenty two but no one expected it as early as september. this is. history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . more from this now just a little bit later right now the palestinians are besieged garza are marking three years since israel sent tanks and fighter jets to attack the the operation lasted for twenty two days it cost almost fifteen hundred lives entire families were wiped out and for some the battle still rages on only now it's in the courtroom as artie's. i judge is unusual not because he laid

a claim against the israelis but because he won victory though is bittersweet. i'm a broken man the israelis say their army has morals what morals are they 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 for all to five were civilians at the same time hundreds of rockets fell on southern israel killing three israeli civilians but i couldn't go 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. so later took his case to the palestinian center for human rights in a person sitting moves they secured and out of court settlement with the israeli

military it took so let's assume 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 sit still and they feel justified with the way said sally was saved just under one hundred fifty thousand dollars compensation. if someone loses his leg or his hand up or risk eld or injury and all the money in the world in the r. and l. but what we're fighting for here is a financial compensation that it will offer some relief. the palestinian center for human rights has more than two hundred cases exile is on its books but the heavy paperwork bureaucracy 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. i thought it was it was early morning there was showing in the apartment above was on fire i want out so i want my hands up and the soldiers

told me to pull off my shirt and trousers i did with a suit but they find iraq 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 you can be a major obstacle if it's in there before you will be ready for the operation far according to the israeli caseload. if leave their sector for. then the state will be accepted from the sea whether saddle up will have judges 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 filed policy r.t. iran has threatened to block oil shipments through one of the world's busiest waterways if the west applies fresh sanctions against it the announcement came from

the country's vice president as its navy held war games near the crucial straits of hormuz dr mohammad marandi from university of to ram told me it would be foolish to think for the us to push around the such measures. i think any act of hostility against iran and that's basically what an oil embargo would be. would force iran to take retaliatory measures and that would indeed create a very difficult situation globally because that would mean the halt of oil exports from the middle east the iranians are quite capable of closing the strait of hormuz and i think that the americans know that quite well iran's defense capabilities are are very different from what they were ten fifteen twenty years ago and the iranians of course hope that the americans don't. act foolishly but they're american do seem to be having in a very irrational manner and dragging the region towards

a very dangerous situation for cultural political stories also online as well plenty of coverage there's a great resource if you're not checked it out already plus a few heartwarming holiday treats to a big festive time of year great pictures here take a look at this. little where little is the operative word cute little cubs already captured millions of hearts is the scene why i would tell you why is being a hand really in denmark instead of getting an arctic star. on the coast in space above our heads festivities on board the international space station as the crew prepares to see and no one you of course but sixteen were waving back at each other our team dog on. the eurozone nation sink ever deeper into crisis the u.k. treasury says it's now working on

a contingency plan for the single currencies collapse the proposal includes introducing capital control measures as well as closing the country's borders and even evacuating ex-pats and tourists from affected countries robert oulds is president of the bruges group of complain there's against excess unification in europe he told me he thinks many nations would actually benefit if the eurozone was to collapse. well the european leaders are trying to shore up the eurozone by having greater degree 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 deficit but that really isn't the answer to the problems wilts really need is either a massive injection of cash into countries like greece and italy to shore up their economies to be 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 women nations of the eurozone and has damaged economic

growth meaning that the economies can't grow their way out of the debt crisis that they're in and they're just in this debt spiral and having deep austerity measures forced upon them story brought you earlier on give you an update on it now that massive earthquake reported a few hours ago reaching a magnitude of almost seven on the sea of being hit southern siberia near the russia mongolia border the epicenter but see on the map here is in a sparse sparsely populated area according to preliminary reports by russia's emergencies ministry but i guess the good flipside of that is there's no casualties reported yet however shocks were felt hundreds of kilometers away in some of the regions major cities think of across new york communication networks no kristie supplies in the area were severely disrupted because of this quake workers to a nearby coal mine and did a number of coal mines we brought to the surface as a precaution in case there are any further quakes we'll keep you posted keep in close. let's focus on the most significant events of the buildup to this year's

russian duma election as part of our series revisiting the key events of twenty eleven not isn't this an hour we covered those developments for us she shares her experience next 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 they expected that announcement to be made yes people expected and there was speculation that they would run for president in twenty two but no one expected it as early as september. the first ten that this congress and united russia wasn't going to be as simple as just the platform for

the duma lections 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 putin and he made the big announcement which no one expected but he believes that top of the list for the do my election to 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 if will be part of united russia if you believe the list that was in it. and then of course you have to me 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 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 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 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 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 the same 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 and their symbol really i think a really strong example of this 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 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. in this scenario there every day right up to the new year will bring you a personal view from more of a team of international correspondents who brought you some of the biggest news stories in what turned out to be a very big news here twenty eleven if you missed any of it as well so online our team. of the big story north koreans preparing finally to lay the leader to rest but the world still going to know what lies ahead for the country after kim jong il is appointed successor and youngest son is now in charge but very little known about it. they went back to school to uncover more about the man who's

got big shoes to fill. 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 close society remain isolated and its new leader too so little is known about the late leaders great successor his third and youngest son kim jong un is a bit of a dark course even his age remains a subject of speculation his thought to be twenty seven or twenty eight his new ascension to power increases the media hunger for information about him so his expensive education in switzerland said led tracked it's a lot more interest and entrepreneur in moscow with russian origins alys on a hug and she believes he could have been one of kim's classmates when news prior 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 him. as kim is the most common name in korea alexander remembers that koreans always different from other students they were very disciplined very disciplined as a group of students. very serious for their interaction. and they wouldn't always take part in. fun and games at the other students were studying to be top of the class they didn't like to although some think the deceased leaders son may be a figurehead overshadowed by his recently promoted uncle who is thought to wield the real power alexander says the three years china has apparently spent in 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. the skills that he managed to retain being able 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 of a little tear in the regime and begin to open north korea to the world and maybe the war old to north korea. r.t. more. will see how. this works the return to syria as r.t.

talks to a french journalist who's been reporting from the country throughout the conflict and shares makes his firsthand impressions of what's really happening. as the conflict in syria continues it's been extremely hard to establish exactly what's been happening here inside the country we're joined now by independent

journalist the airiness sun thank you very much for joining us now you've been working on the ground here in syria can you tell us where your perceptions of the situation are to begin we have some groups entering inside the country and making big problems. or it's the border first. and various people. recruit some of the two to make bigger fighting groups and no way of entering in coordination with the political opposition and newer to this country very. long history of opposition between the party invite muslim brotherhood so no reason that i didn't speak to in this. army. groups coming from abroad so that's why these groups come in go quite everywhere

because b. of some support and inside the population begin by. frayne subversion but they find a support inside become. difficult to know why very friendly support if it's because people is ready to use any means to reverse for government or if it's. for some ideological reasons and if you were muslim brothers they said the very reverse. prism bashar said not because they want democracy but because he's a lawyer with it so it could be the beginning of. religious war inside the country and you're also on the ground during the war in libya in what ways did you draw comparisons to the situation that's happening now in syria so the way it works for me too is exactly the same they do exactly the same way to create the file on the

united nations first so we've version of a council on human rights and after security council they try to manipulate we are rubber league exactly in the same way in the libyan case they organize a big story in front of vision of a concern for human rights they say there is five thousand people killed by security forces of course it's absolutely on the base a lot of people killed but very few by the security forces most of them killed by this armor groups they put inside the cold how do you see the situation progressing now first. the military level. i think that all be reaction to destabilize the country are not working we see a lot of problems a lot of people killed but this is not a civil war great way to organize if they want to enter we for in troops inside

like be doing leiby are or using proxy from the gulf council i think. the problem. because base country is ready for battle love this country is leaving soon sixty years in the middle east with that will not likely be you know on the economic level boys big problems the beginning of a sanctions destroy different parts of the economy of course or the tourism is totally destroyed but during the winter you have more fuel. also a problem will. different imported goods. but. i think this. is no changing because varies new agreements between syria iran and china that so great why no

to impose. sanctions. and it could be a newbie just to his country but to rediscover very quickly able to prove your sewer disaster make a move just before the orville's arab countries around so they have to stop because centuries so now. syria is able to resists a long time to be. pressured from the top thanks very much for joining us. the least explored areas. and touched by money. granted by steep law. case

paintings on display for thousands of years. easter sunday beyond the tiger. on our teeth.