some other part of it and realized everything you. are welcome to the big picture. but the. american legal action against russia saying that washington shouldn't be lecturing anyone on human rights with its record of sanctions definite detention. in the day we bring you christmas address is the editor of wiki leaks mark six months of asylum in ecuador an embassy in london. and time magazine names barack obama person of the year in the architect of a new america but critics call for action and not just words from the president on issues like gun control.

you're watching r t broadcasting live from moscow on kerry well they may putin has defended russia's position in the latest round of a human rights with the u.s. the president says washington shouldn't be pointing the finger when its own record of violations goes far beyond anything that moscow has been accused of the details now from. there you go what exactly sparked such tough rhetoric from future. well the president has slammed the moneys p.x. us recently by american lawmakers which he said is a continuation of a series of anti russian loss just like the jackson venice. act which was abolished just recently and according to the president a country the united states which operates prisons like abu ghraib and guantanamo

where violations of human rights happen on a daily basis simply has no rights to criticize the human rights situation in russia. would you let your people our us partners and their lawmakers say they are concerned about human rights in our prisons that's fine of course but there are plenty of issues they have themselves abu ghraib and guantanamo where for years people have been detained without charge it's inconceivable that prisoners walk around in chains like in the middle ages they've legalized torture inside their own country if something like that happened here it would cause an international outcry and you put it all remains quiet in the u.s. we've heard plenty of promises to close guantanamo but it's still there it's still operating maybe there is still torture going on there secret cia prisons has anyone been brought to account and they're pointing at our problems well thank you we are

aware of that you making this the ground for passing anti russian laws it's something absurd and we have a no way provoked such action she just she just did what he did so as russian lawmakers continue working on what they say will be a proportionate reply to the money it is plans that the draft will include a ban for americans to adopt russian children the president is also commented on that saying that the biggest problem in this issue is that it's not in the cases of the abuse themselves but to the lack of a proper legal reaction from american off the. these to prevent them from reoccurring including a lack of serious punishments and the president is also reminded of a recent agreement reached between moscow and washington on adoption and he says that in reality due to the fact that each state has different legislations and america this agreement simply has no legal power in some of these states and if

it's supposed to allow russian officials monitor what happens to russian children after they're brought to the united states after being adopted then often these people are not even allowed in courts to be present at the hearings the president said that all this makes their grievance and be pointless but when you go on what else has a putin touched upon during the conference so far. well in light of the anti-government protests which have been going on for a year now the president was asked about a tough question implying that he's guilty and author of the rishi much during the years in power let's listen to what the president had to say on that. we have just basically it's almost a b. i believe that we've provided stability which is the perec was it for the development of our country i believe it's a very important thing but i wouldn't call it authoritarian i can't agree with such an opinion but the most prominent example that proves my point was my decision to

take to the sidelines after two terms as president if i thought that to toward tarion or authoritarian systems would be the most preferable for our country i just changed the constitution. now another issue touched upon at this conference so far is russia's stance on syria there's been lots of speculation around this issue lately in international media some even saying that russia's position has changed while the president has reiterated once again that moscow does not support president assad's regime but it does not want to see a repeat of what happened in libya with the country deteriorating he says that he doesn't want to see a continuation of a civil war for many years to come first according to the idea which is the people of syria it's society has to decide what sort of a political system he wants to have in the future and who he wants to see control

the country and then the change of power has to happen all in order to provide stability first of all smaller population of serious note of syria itself another question was the issue of health there's been a lot of speculation that the president has been having some problems with his back while now. and has denied the speculation and on a lighter note on the issue which has been probably on the minds of millions of people worldwide at the end of the world the president has said he knows when it's going to happen according to what in that is going to happen in a few billion years when the sun stops shining these are some of the more serious and not so serious issues you talked about at this conference so far and of course i'll be bringing you more updates as it continues. stuff live from moscow thank you and in fact. continue to address the most pressing issues brought forward by the media let's have a listen it would be so then with any video as we say and saddam

hussein was executed i'm sure the this country is theirs into great. practical use a separate state many with him. since that time. this solutions said that in order to solve this problem it's hard for me to say it on so this but i think it's there you see why it is dubious at least. but we way from my point of view of the second problem that we experienced at the time and this is the anti-missile systems we repeatedly stated that we feel the threat when we see that our partners develop and this is a systems can. bring. an end to missile potential which upset the balance the digital balance in their world which are the

humanity year away from me here which. you would show a large scale military conflicts like crisis with just. because of the isabella's because no one would like to have a mutually mutual destruction i used to talk to one person i respect him the former president bush said why you're so worried about this we are doing this not against you we are and then i am so there we are going to do this. but in order to maintain the balance we will be able watch to develop the. strike. facilities. do not regard. that's what they were doing but it's and the problem emerged that time and still exist

if you could you tell you of course it's not against us so there are many details here and you know when people are saying. whatever. they proposed. to make something from a technological point of view to find a technology was a lucia without it we are going to start it's not against us but at least let's write a fort sumter on the legally binding document for example against it as well they reject the satyr as well so we will be obliged to reciprocate and. of course it can . spoil our relations but i would like to come back to the. what is the second president of the united said that we are not in a mess we just look for the compromises and i don't think about it and could be quietly detrimental or fact. the investment climate but we have to ensure the

national security interest of for the sake of the people of the russian federation so maybe last two questions. more so we're go into in the wilds. continue to watch live video streaming from any place and putin's anybody in a marriage with the press and media when i websites that's live at r.t. dot com so you can right. now the editor of what wiki leaks during the sun is set to make his christmas speech later on thursday marking six months since he knocked on the door the ecuadorian embassy in london the address has already sparked my speculation about what kind of message well there is set to deliver what is the recent reports now. later on thursday julian assange is doing something which is usually reserved for heads of state queens the pope people like that he's giving a christmas message from the balcony of the ecuadorian embassy where he's been

holed up for the last six months and in fact this speech will mark his six month anniversary inside the ecuadorian embassy now the last time julian assange appeared in public it was back in august and he'd organize a kind of a rally around the embassy so speeches by politicians and other supporters as a kind of a carnival atmosphere with balloons and all that kind of thing and then he came on and made his speech and he made a couple of important points one of which was to urge the u.s. to end what he calls the witch hunt against wiki leaks and he also called for the release of bradley manning who's of course being held. on trial in the u.s. accused of leaking classified documents to wiki leaks so those are two things that he may mention again when he talks later on thursday he also may talk about his most recent threads to run for the senate in the two thousand and thirteen

australian federal elections he's made that announcement and he's said that wiki leaks is setting up a political party for which plans are significantly advanced and they have received significant support from notable australians he says that that party is designed to promote openness in government and politics and also to combat a growing intrusions on individual privacy one of the things i learnt during the interview that he gave me a couple of weeks ago was that julian assad is increasingly on willing to talk about his personal situation he prefers to stick to the wider issues and so that is why one of the things he may talk about would be the continuing blockade of wiki leaks by a visa master card and pay pal that's a case that's ongoing at the moment and also a possible further leak that he mentioned to me they're talking about leaking more documents in the new year watch this space he said. also ahead for you this out

worldwide the rebuke united nations security council says that israel will support new settlement construction with al to build more homes in the palestinian territories details just ahead. flying north with me in this old soviet work course of the helicopter is dr ron amir brodsky and his team from the region's medical aviation service we head across ever more barren tundra higher and higher into russia's arctic far north until eventually we see our landing spot with arrive at this tiny village after crossing hundreds of kilometers of snow a world of us as a boy here suffering from favre and the doctors are going to see what they can do. inside a small building not one but two babies and their parents are waiting for us the

doctors inspect them but can't make a diagnosis and decide to bring them to a regional hospital for better care spread lana doesn't like taking her baby away from home but she's been before and agrees to go that's the usual practice with those who live in atlanta they keep mothers with their newborns in hospital for a month. on the way back another stop to check on the health of some native minutes reindeer herders out in the tundra it can take many hours to reach the nearest village so a medical problem simply fixed here in the tent. they used to be but now we can go to civilized places so we call for emergency help. back at hospital other patients helped by the air on balance are being treated the service costs forty million dollars a year to run and there's been controversy with some claiming that locals exaggerate or make up health problems and use the helicopters as a free taxi service by causations vladimir firmly dismisses your brother is not

true usually the calls are perfectly justified sometimes we even reproach locals waiting too long before calling us he's been working as a doctor now for forty three years but that a man is confident that even after he retires his helicopter doctors will remain a lifeline to the peoples of the russian far north. as well including. science technology innovation all the latest developments from

around russia we've got the huge you're covered. today. these are the images. from the. corporation. for internationally for you now u.s. president barack obama has become time magazine's person of the year for a second time. being the symbol and the architect of a new america publications enthusiasm for the president is not shared by all many

remain unconvinced by his actions on such topics as gun control. they're choosing president obama as the person of the year second time the first time they gave him the title right after the two thousand and eight election as to someone who had the most influence on global affairs although at that time he hadn't had the time to exercise all that influence but then president obama also received the nobel peace prize in two thousand and nine shortly after his election although i guess at that point he hadn't made much peace in the world the award was seen as much more of an advance credit then and knowledge meant of actual achievements on the peace funds later president obama went on to spend that credit sending more troops to afghanistan and carrying out regime change in libya under the arguable banner war for the sake of peace as far as his person of the year titled critics argue president obama was time's choice by default their shortlist this year also

included the egyptian leader mohammed morsi and the pakistani girl malala yousafzai who was shot by the taliban for advocating for women's education president obama may be the person of the year for the time magazine but for advocates of gun control in the u.s. he still has to earn that title to president obama had a news conference where he was asked why no meaningful action has been taken on gun control in the last four years of his presidency although one of his campaign pledges was a ban on assault weapons he basically said he had lots of other things to do including waging two wars and quote it's not like i've been on vacation he said those in the u.s. who suffered in numerous incidents of gun violence would probably not be satisfied with such an answer but the president pledged to finally take more active steps in the coming months he said the administration will come up with a more definitive proposal on gun control but people have heard those words before

and nothing happened and getting a semiautomatic weapon is not a problem in the u.s. adam lanza who killed twenty small children and. six adults at an elementary school last week fired from a semi-automatic bushmaster rifle it's a military style rifle a powerful weapon and its sales are on the rise in the u.s. in the last four years the market for such guns grew thirty percent during the security council has criticized israel for pushing on with its settlement plans and putting the two state peace talks at risk in addition to the construction of six thousand new homes proposed earlier reports are emerging of the approval of more than three thousand other houses in jerusalem and the west bank of israel's building in occupied palestinian lands is seen as illegal under international law put asli reports. israeli officials say that they proceed on with plans to build six thousand new homes this defines criticism from western powers who fear that the

move will hamper an already famed hopes for a peace deal between israelis and palestinians you'll remember that it was just last month after the de facto recognition of palestinian sovereignty at the united nations that israel made its new announcement in terms of settlement building it said that it would expand settlements in the occupied west bank as well as in east jerusalem and at that time there was international and quiet the point needs to be made that israel continues to build in utter defiance of international law and as well as of united nations resolutions so many critics are pointing up it is also assertiveness with settlements is part of the reason why it's becoming increasingly isolated by its partners primarily in europe but that's not to say that washington is also not losing patience the united states has said that it is deeply disappointed by israeli construction plans in an unpredictably sharp reaction the obama administration has sharpened its criticism of israel saying that these

construction plans run counter to peace the point also needs to be made that mixed month january israel will be holding condom interim elections which is why many are suggesting that these are nonsense by the prime minister netanyahu are a means of trying to garner domestic support as well as change the reality on the ground one of the options is that. in like minded people. creating a situation by the number of servers we such a significant one eventually the solution will be more or less let us get the big to the sixty seven borders. of the palestinian state rather than evacuate. to new areas which would be annexed to israel most of the international community see the settlement construction by television as illegal so palestinians

see it as a real obstacle to creating a viable capital in east jerusalem. tel aviv. due to walk free earlier than expected that's according to a moscow court which is just cut the former tycoons prison term for embezzlement and money laundering two years before the details were joined live now in the studio by a correspondent for the see what can you tell us i carry all the case of the two former you in a spartan as has been one of the most high profile in russia over recent years now back in two thousand the government had accused what are called scare and his partner lebedev essentially embezzling lots of money tax evasion their company yukos which was the largest oil company at the time and then one bancroft and its assets were taken over by the state company. many in the west had accused it this move of being politically driven by moscow just denies those charges the two men were essentially accused of money laundering and bedlam and stealing as much as thirty billion us dollars worth of oil they've been serving prison sentences over

that but today in an appeal hearing their prison sentences were in fact reduced i'll be eligible for release in two thousand and fourteen now we do know that they're going to continue to serve out those sentences over over eleven years now thirteen years that they were originally given by the courts ok lisa thanks for much for that update thank you. just ahead we'll be breaking the set with martin stay with us. building stilton over their foundation pipes being black smoke over the snow covered peaks the traces of the soviet industrial activity on the burgen

archipelago don't make a pretty picture if the guiding principle here is the worse the better what will like to tell the story that back in soviet times where no region for visiting barons work they don't want to express. how prosperous this was well times have obviously kenya where they saw it lags they still attracting the region tourists or barons work i would much needed cash that's why when. our goal is common as was uncovered here a few days ago instead of throwing it away the local administration decided to paint a venue and put it at variance with central square that in the nine hundred eighty s. there was a burgeoning mining community there the soviet union was determined to maintain its own costs. are located halfway between north america and western europe bergen archipelago is part of norway with a special status that allows other countries to set up industrial bases here in the

middle of the cold war it served as the use of western most outposts now it's one of the soviet union slask preserved relics. of the soviet union if it was cut off from any financial support for two decades curious interested i think it could be even more appealing for russia. to keep its presence on spitsbergen russian film until a coal mine here but in terms of profit is far behind local souvenir shops. bill it is a big hit the defunct are incurred and still helps keep the money flowing because it's a russian you know. you can't. you know your. local administration is increasingly under pressure to bring the infrastructure up to more than standards these modernization efforts are not very popular with tourists

if you come into a very authentic place like bond it should stay the way it is that would be my wish i mean that's the part also the a little you know authentic traditionally up. i should not i would not like to have it in a shiny condition to be on those this time to change even for the better is not always good for business something that even the local band has become attuned to when they try to add the morning russian songs to die repertoire the audience called all they wanted to hear it was a song comfortably familiar. you live on one hundred thirty three bucks

a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck. i mean. i know that i'm still really messed up. and we're all very closely. at that. worst you are going to go right out to the. radio guy and. what we're about to do if you've never seen anything like this i'm told. look up guys i'm having martin and this is breaking this set you know this morning started off really great and i saw this that's right. obama time magazine's person of the years this is the first time he also took the title after winning the election in two thousand and eight but as bad as that already sounds the rationale

behind it is even worse take a look at what time magazine's richard stengel had to say about why he was chosen. for a democrat to actually win two consecutive terms with over fifty percent of the vote that something we haven't seen since franklin delano roosevelt and he's basically the beneficiary of the offer of a kind of new america a new demographic a new cultural america that he is now the symbol of so let me get this straight simply because obama was reelected he deserves to be person of the year you see this is a giant political charade being pushed by mainstream publication one that's chosen to revel in the fact that obama is just a mere symbol he made history as the nation's first black president than to evaluate him and his horrendous human rights record complete disregard of the rule of law continuation of bush administration policies you see by ignoring obama's policies you know in a moral drone an assassination program authorizing the indefinite detention of american citizens and in our right crusade against a whistleblowers the media simply condones it so rest assured that this new title

probably sit right alongside another well deserved one that good old nobel peace prize now if you find this is disturbing as i do let's break the set. up where you are saying anything like. so guys you might have missed you might have missed this last week but a north carolina judge recently rescinded the death sentences of three convicted murders in a state policy called the racial justice act of two thousand and nine is a directive that allows for a second evaluation of death row cases if relevant evidence points to racism as a factor in the trial and sentencing a defendant and that's exactly why the lawyers for these three convicted felons were pushing for justice their defense attorneys provided a whole.