despite the. corruption. so much for joining us here today. minus twelve.

no word about the fate of a ukrainian journalist being held hostage in syria after a deadline execution set by rebels. with many other media outlets. was abducted by insurgents two months ago they threatened to kill her if a fifty dollar ransom was paid taking up the story for us now. well the deadline has passed with no word as to whether or not she is dead or alive she was reportedly kidnapped by the free syrian army and held for ransom of fifty million u.s. dollars she was taken hostage nearly two months ago and since then has appeared in two separate videos in the first she appeals to the ukrainian government to pay the ransom money and state her free in a second which many believe was made under due is she admits to being a spy for the point needs to be made that just about everyone believes that this video was made under extreme pressure and belts the objectiveness of what she was

saying now reporters without borders amnesty international and a number of other nongovernmental organizations have called on the free syrian army as well as the syrian national coalition if the mom did that they immediately secure her release saying that this is the first taste of the newly widely recognized government at the same time the same rebels. posted a video in which they have said that no russian no ukrainian and no will leave syria alive so there is deep concern as to her fate of course one of us live right there dr ali mohamed from the syria tribune online magazine it is the foreign nations which back the rebels will do little to pressure them to free the journalist. it's for the rest. to. some pressure of.

the. country. or have been for being arrested. recently recognition of syrian rebels or by the u.s. and its allies is only fueling the armed conflict there and moscow also reiterated his position that political dialogue is the only solution to the conflict and got a pretty good offer. for the past twenty four hours international media has been buzzing with speculation that russia changed its position on the conflict in syria now the speculation in the media began after on thursday one of the foreign ministry senior officials was misinterpreted when he quoted the syrian syrian opposition which said that president assad was losing control over the country

there's been an official announcement from the foreign ministry which basically says russia's stance on the issue is still the same and still does not support any side of the conflict it does not plan to shelter president. although the situation in syria is deteriorating and russia is looking at the possibility of evacuating russian citizens out of there the foreign ministry has stressed once again that there could be only one solution to the conflict which is a diplomatic one without any foreign military intervention it should be based on the principles in geneva which basically call on both sides to immediately and simultaneously put their weapons down start up a little process and for the international community to apply equal pressure on them to do so. it's going off right there while america is deploying its troops.

there is a certain code of politicians and advisors in this country who are petrified that they're no longer going to be at the central table of europe enjoying the late night events in the flash cars and the hotels that they get the decision making the real buzz of being there but there are those like me actually a party that believes that being outside of of this particular trip would actually influence great great britain's influence would actually rise and we'd be able to trade more easily with the rest of the world because we're freed of these regulations but at the moment you can see that even from the government's own statistics they show that recently trade with the rest of the world has risen dramatically whilst our trade with europe has actually fallen and that's not surprising to ourselves because we see that the rest of the world isn't the east in asia or looking at south america or indeed the middle east and then there's going

to be a great push in africa there are countries with rising copulations and rising middle class that demand products and we have expertise that could and should be used trading with them. this is r.t. and thousands of people have marched through the spanish capital with the christmas spirit failing to quell anti austerity sentiment and this time the show of discontent was directed towards education cuts a spanish government remains committed to its strategy of austerity is desperate to avoid the bailout fate of other european nations like greece and portugal and ireland the country though is nearly one hundred and fifty billion euros in debt. now the u.k. government has given the green light to the resumption of the controversial gas drilling technique known as fracking are the methods heavily criticized for its destructive environmental impact including causing massive water pollution and then earthquakes what is probably a biker takes up the story. cordray is the only company with

a license to conduct fracking in the u.k. but that's all set to change now that the government has given its blessing for the controversial method of extracting shale gas from underground already operates several wells here in lancashire but the device of technology was temporarily banned last year and with good reason to the fracking taking place. a local and he's doing very little he said i don't know a lot about it well he should know all about it you're going. to lie shareholders pockets this is not going to benefit a legacy. for our children hundreds of miles away in london the capital's outspoken mayor called. on six of the nation's prayers and the reserves in lancashire america but for residents here in this trying call corner of england it's a blight on the otherwise peaceful community and the prospect of more fracking

sweeping the countryside is frightening and they keep talking about it being in. the reserves all the way down i think the moment about. how much better off will be. the technology may raise fares but the promise of riches from the rush for shale gas has set politicians pulses racing despite mounting opposition which has spread beyond lancashire. and using hydraulic fracturing. is a high risk activity which as many benefits for foreign investors very little for the. it is a short and not very intelligent solution to energy problems they're going to get

money out of the drug program to. bring corrupt governments would do anything for money i think it's just sort of resource money they can just get the money so this is not really for the country's best interest to do that way brussels isn't convinced either the european parliament is reportedly considering regulating the shale gas industry concerned that britain doesn't know what it's doing by throwing itself wholeheartedly into the controversial practice of the minute we are not self-sufficient in gas and haven't been for a very long time we were but in actual fact we import about half of gas now we see that in the us gas prices are a quarter of what they were i want you to track this suit to output this suit print is much less so there are many reasons why she'll gas if it comes. will be attractive in terms of purity of life and also probably in terms of price stability and that's what's drowning out the warnings bringing down people's energy bills

means politicians and big business can press ahead even though those living in the shadow of fracking facilities know that the government is playing with fire. see lancashire. many more stories to catch up with online including the european court of human rights rules for the first time with the cia has used torture the softer members of the u.s. intelligence agencies sodomized german citizen who was a wrong lead to paint on suspicion of. those details that are to dot com. plus leaders like a millionaire the former c.e.o. of the world's largest nickel producer breaks all records in russia with an unprecedented payout on leaving his job. a former russian policeman has been convicted of involvement in the murder of prominent journalist anna politkovskaya he's been sentenced to eleven years behind bars in

a maximum security prison dimitry it probably a chunk of confessed to organizing surveillance and acquiring the murder weapon a political skier was murdered in the elevator of her apartment block six years ago her professional activity considered the most likely motive of the investigation into her death does continue with five more people implicated in the murder awaiting trial. and the russians prominent opposition leader and corruption fighter . only has a new fight on his hands with new accusations of fraud and money laundering together with his brother who's been charged with embezzling more than one point eight million dollars while working for a postal transport business and the valley to denies the allegations and the details now r.t. correspondent tom barton. alexei novell me has been charged with fraud and money laundering in a case involving postal service says his brother worked in russia's postal service

investigators allege that the two of them set up a fake company and then using their contacts they convinced another company to use their postal services which they then massively overcharged for and pocketed one point eight million dollars worth of funds laundering some of that money as well investigators say in a very complex scheme the family for his part says that the charges came out of the blue and has alleged that they were politically motivated and designed to discredit question for alexei navalny rose to fame through his anti corruption blogs and he's also helps to organize the opposition the protests which over the past year have been held around russia against alleged knocks vote rigging and he's made it to be time magazine's one hundred most influential people list he's also facing mother charges of fraud this is the second time in six months the charges of food brought

against him in the other case it involves similar allegations involving a timber deal both of those investigations are ongoing into alexei navalny tom potter reporting right there and still ahead here on the program nuclear talks with iran could soon be back on track tehran and the agency both praised a recent visit by inspectors despite a team once again being barred from accessing a suspicious a military site. plus. officially limits the level of love you can show your pets but the new and. the legislation upsets the country's one hundred thousand open zoo a file so that other stories after a short break. the

san bernardino california police force like to shrink by eighty officers this year to cover their budget deficit during a local meeting the chief of police laid out the city's problems the sea is facing waves of gang violence theft and drug trafficking but with all the prisons completely overcrowded many of these criminals go right back on to the street and there's just nobody to put more police out there to fight them the police chief really only had one solution offer a given situation go home lock your doors and load your gun and you know what actually that's not that bad of a proposition america's always been a country where people been expected to look out for themselves and i appreciate the police chief's honesty but i know the world we live in and i have a feeling that the second some homeowner shoots a guy who jumps over his fence at night that homeowners going to go to jail for life you can't expect that one thousand nine hundred eighty attitude towards crime will be able to work in a twenty first century world where rapists consume you because they slipped on your slippery kitchen floor if you want people to be able to defend themselves that's

great but you have to allow them the legal liberty to do so or else the criminals will just take over but that's just my opinion. language. calling because we know in financial literacy skills and. treatments that the consumer. chooses to get. to. choose the stories get him to. choose the access to.

this is r t thanks for joining us today finally there are signs of progress in talks between iran and the un atomic agency this after months of standstill a recent mission to tehran has given rise to expectations that inspectors could be allowed access to iran's nuclear program next year and the u.n. team of experts said they were happy with their visit despite a failure to get access to the parchin military base that is suspected of previously housing nuclear activities and the u.s. however is stiffening sanctions against iran and america's ally israel has warned it could strike iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail but a former top iranian diplomat in an interview with r.t. said israel is exploiting the issue to justify its own weapons program here's a preview of what's to come a bit later even today israel is the are always using your

own issue. to justifying the nuclear bomb saying iran is existential threat for easily but the fact is. is that. produced nuclear bomb before islamic solution. where the shah of iran was that easily. israeli nuclear bomb has nothing to do with iraq because it was mass produced before it would. now they are using islamic revolution in order to justify which i would not buy this argument. i will get to the world update in just a sec for now though the u.s. is ready to expand its military presence in asia reportedly drafting a deal to rotate even more troops through the philippines but some experts have

warned that washington's apparent attempt to grab influence away from china in the region is a dangerous high stakes game. america does like to miss around with china and trying to stand up i taking sides in this dispute between china and its neighbors it's really not because it cures one way or the other but the philippines is clinton has all the time to see the west will see that's a very strategic part of the walt a lot of shipping to that area. and when there are so many players involved you cannot control the all and if one goes off then really it would be very hard to control the situation bring it under control. let's get to some of the global news in brief now with the artery wall starting with the british government which will pay over two million pounds compensation to the family of

a prominent libyan dissident it claims u.k. secret services played a key role in his kidnapping in hong kong and forcible transfer to tripoli where he was tortured by the khadafi regime in two thousand and ten the u.k. also paid millions to a number of guantanamo bay inmates to avoid a potentially embarrassing investigation after they accused london of having a cozy relationship with authoritarian regime. dozens of bolivia and prison inmates buried themselves neck deep in the ground and use their own blood to write protest songs and there are unhappy with the low rate of their income the government put daily payments of less than a dollar on hold earlier this year. he has become split ahead of a constitutional referendum supporters of the president have gathered major rallies in the capital cairo at least thirteen people have been injured today in ballance in the northern city of alexandria the opposition meanwhile is campaigning for a node to a draft written mainly by the islamist group backing the president of the referendum

follows two weeks of demonstrations by protesters on loyalists which lead to clashes in the capital. now as two thousand and twelve draws to a close film lovers a busy compiling lists of this year's best blockbusters. glamorize zation of war and u.s. movies is out for debate with oscar winning director all of a stone that's an abbey martin's breaking to set his a quick preview of what to expect. so you think american cinema has changed drastically since the vietnam war where you rarely see films critiquing u.s. foreign policy or empire in fact this is a point i just had the opportunity to bring up with oscar winning director oliver stone who has made such prolific antiwar movies like born on the fourth of july and with whom here's what he had to say. this is worship of the greatest generation as well as the technical. machinery or helicopters and now you know i'm

surprised in this hurt locker you say there's no judgment about why we're in iraq in this new movie i gather you know it is about our technological. slick this it's not about the morality of whether you go into other countries to to kill or kidnap people. have you ever seen anything like. i live from moscow this is out the germany is getting tough on heavy petting parliament has passed a new. law banning inter-species relationships and apparently that subset thousands of germans do a file's who say their loves me the loves of their lives will be taken away. what's. best friend

and sometimes. i need an animal to be happy. did not have it there would be something missing there are some levels of relationship with an animal you can fall in love with your animal in the sexual relationship is not out of the question. these people make up some of the estimated one hundred thousand zero files in germany and by well started slowly or more like a child with some kids playing doctor a bunch of economics and i think some of their sexual. experimentation that we. can . technically it has been illegal since the color freeze animal welfare laws were relaxed in one nine hundred sixty nine that sex with animals was dropped from the start books it is led to a boom in the practice and the proliferation of websites and even brothels devoted

to it after new laws approved this week come into force the practice will again be considered illegal this group claim there will be a witch hunt when it comes into force. the way this law is regular means that all you need is a rumor or accusation for the agency to get involved and take it away it also affects not just those who practice best reality but where for example an animal has certain issues and all you need is a suggestion that this could have happened for sex and you got into an accusation spiral that reminds you of very dark times in german history and. these you affiliate campaigners say that here in the german parliament there legislating against morality however the law makers themselves say that it's only the welfare of the animals that they care about. we're not always in reality but we're improving animal protection and we would like to specify that it's forbidden to cause suffering through a sexual relationship but the line is when you cause suffering to an animal for

your personal sexual gratification. denmark sweden and belgium currently the only e.u. states with a filial law that leaves the prospect that these countries could become a destination for a zoo were full of tourism animal rights activists hope the move by the bomb the stark will become a europe wide. yeah yes we would support a european wide ban on. where stand behind other nations and we need to catch up. just outside of berlin as one of the largest animal shelters in europe consent is a major issue while those involved in other welfare so you must be addressed as a dog's are loyal even when they're abused they're still going to look as if they are to be especially when it gets you have to be dogs will be happy whatever you take to feed then is not a sign that the dog is enjoying it and those in relationships with animals though

confident that their love is legitimate in fear for the future. fantasizing about as training your way animals. our friend has found a razor blade in this post with a no do it yourself so we don't have to letters don't arrive too often but arise every now and then in the subway someone was yelling at me calling me names i have concern about the facts could become physical it's what ocean off the. beach all over our team jeremy. all right coming up just a few minutes here on r.t. i mean not him breaking the set. it sounds like a dragon crashing through the forest but it is in fact technology versus trees and

would you believe it this machine can fail and strip hundreds of them each day when building this facility we wanted to use advanced technology that would increase efficiency and allow us not to use manual labor also this provides for better quality goods as a result we were able to conquer western markets the demand for corrina birchwood is high since our production line is quite efficient where i will do well for higher wages to our employees the trunks and up here where they're tending to planks which branch off for all manner of uses these would export and large but not all of it goes with gold. here in the museum island of traditional methods they used to build and maintain churches and dwellings dating back hundreds of years in this hall where careers used to what. complexity these planks are about to become part of something which exemplifies the combination of tradition and technology. here at the valley on viking boat makers what

is fashioned into their souls new and old they range from small private boats to replicas used in the historical t.v. series of. my boots are all special they're like children to me we have to design and build them from scratch it's always sad when we have to part ways every time we sail away while we remain at the dark and pavel gets much of his timber from karelia saying customers pine for its high quality wood. which brings us to the first six million cubic metres of wood is cut down in careers forests every year that goes to make everything from farm houses to firewood and with careers proximity to europe and the bald. it's big forests mean big business.

to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous i look i got so many i mean. i believe that i'm sitting at least really messed up. in the old story so personally apologize and. worse for the little. white house of a little radio guy in fort lauderdale minestrone that i want a large quote for a politician because you've never seen anything like this i'm telling. you. what's going on everyone i'm abby martin and this is breaking the set pay lens you know that crazy t.v. family with a mom who is actually the.