slashers the sentences for dozens of anti-government activists but human rights groups call it a half measure and western states. a solution to syria's bloody conflict becomes a possibility that all parties appear to agree that a transitional government should take over the syrian delegation holds talks behind closed doors right here in moscow. and the u.k.'s northeast feels the financial pinch even as the country scrambles out of recession layoffs and no regional regeneration.

it is a just after seven pm here in moscow you're watching r t with me roll received thanks for joining us. has cut the sentences for dozens of people who took part in antigovernment rallies last year but the move has failed to satisfy local activists who are calling for the release of all political prisoners human rights groups are urging the kingdom to stop using tear gas and torture interrogations amid its crackdown on public gatherings alexina chef ski looks at who benefits from two years of unrest. oh when it came to supporting calls for democracy in middle eastern north african states while denouncing government sponsored violence leaders of the west were vocally critical from our graphic has lost legitimacy to lead and

he must leave out of a very clear message for president which is it is time for him to go but when scenes of violent clashes between riot police and reform complain risk came from bahrain the definition of democracy shifted and rhetoric softened. in the summer of the us state department came up with a statement expressing its concerns over the human rights situation and alleged torture in bahrain this was only several months after washington had restarted weapons sales to this gulf state dissenters in bahrain have been directing anger at their government for months now stop arming the killers is a message they are more often sending out to the west somehow the in bahrain blood is worthless and the libyan blood is more important it's just critical a stand so here you see for from travels to europe to direct a change into what he believes to be brutal repression in his country he and others

like him have managed to alert human rights organizations but that's as far as it goes there go clinton made a statement about bahrain about the human rights situation in bahrain and this. one protester was killed you know and show you that there is no impact on the ground we are a victim and behind because we live in a country they condemn the violence committed by the bahraini government against the peaceful protests there and beheading but that is still continuing for decades bahrain has been one of washington's closest allies in the gulf its naval base houses the u.s. fifth fleet and six thousand troops in a seemingly irreversible decision made decades ago despite a growing anti-american mood among some of bahrain's neighbors. anything happens in the bush era plan or any of the other planners that there are allegations of a nuclear weapon being built we are very close to all of those sites and we have to

make the right decision in preventing any kind of catastrophe coming here we are or are not capable of doing that and that's why we turn to our friends and allies and officials firmly deny that washington plays a decisive role in preventing any revolution happening in bahrain but even the bahraini government's information minister suggests the us main fact be playing a double game. think the iranian opposition is a key ally of the us leader of the opposition and the terrorist members of the opposition have close ties with foreign embassies in bahrain we can leak some of the old many documents proving that if this is true then washington sitting comfortably you can quickly switch sides but for now the opposition in bahrain is left to wonder as to why calls to support democracy from some are less worthy of attention than others. r.t. reporting from the kingdom of bahrain. she might have been executed on wednesday

but nobody knows because the deadline set by the syrian rebels to receive ransom for a captive ukrainian journalist passed without a word on what's happened to her civilians and the media are increasingly being caught up in the crossfire of the ongoing twenty one month conflict with the rebels and government trading fresh accusations of atrocities middle east correspondent paul asleep at this report. there is growing concern as to the fate of a ukrainian journalist. who was taken captive by syrian rebels two months ago in october now a second deadline has a hostile up of ransom being paid what the rebel group holding her is asking for is some fifty million dollars then accusing her of being a russian and a syrian spy and they've already released some two you tube videos in which she does appear it was an earlier deadline that was extended to wednesday but as i say this has passed we are hearing from the ukrainian foreign ministry that it is on involved in talks for her release but that they're not releasing any kind of

information we do know that ukrainian journalists have directly been appealing and talking to the syrian opposition to release her and if not release to at least keep her safe until they do so now of course the rebels almost strangers to kidnapping foreigners there are two russians who are currently being held captive they were taken out last week and moscow is trying to secure the release and then of course it was the n.b.c. crew that also managed to escape the rebel captives they were held held for several days and they were also threatened with execution it's not just kidnappings that the rebels have increased but certainly they have increased the kind of violent activities they've been conducting there's been a flurry of videos appearing on you tube in which we've witnessed the rebels executing various people and some of the videos their prisoners are flying full good we've seen videos of them behaving people and we constantly hear reports coming out of syria with each side accusing the other of perpetrating calamities indeed what we've witnessing happening in syria is a media war is

a misinformation war that is increasingly difficult to verify the rebels themselves on not innocent in fact they target guilty as a lot of these as of yet unconfirmed videos so if you do suggest. our middle east correspondent paul asli reporting now the international peace envoy for syria has been urging the creation of a transitional government to run the country really until elections are held it was reportedly discussed behind closed doors here in moscow where if syrian delegation is said to be ready to agree to the plan more on this now i want to risk off it may be as big. breakthrough in the syrian conflict there's speculation that syrians may have brought a groundbreaking peace plan now. after international. who's been trying to. put their weapons down he met with president.

later said that he had a positive feeling and that something good was going on according to speculation may have discussed a peaceful transition of power which may include forming a transitional government with representatives from the syrian. opposition. is expected in the russian capital also on saturday moscow has a good chance of mediating this since it's been in contact with the syrian authorities and with the opposition. president and the syrian government as the official power in the country. you're watching r.t. and the u.k. is on the tentative road to recovery but there are parts of the country not exactly sharing in the turnaround of people in britain's poorest region the northeast are still feeling the bite there are three times more attempted suicides in the entire london area. want to see why the situation looks so bleak. as

the old saying impressing gays it's grim up north it's a perception of life in some of the nation's other major cities recessions hit the u.k. hard it's been in the northeast where it's been felt particularly acutely. you know a common a recession and maybe that is right. here i mean you know the very people who are living on the poverty line trade union leader about scott's furious with the government's decision to close sunderland's rempel a factory it's a government venture that began back in the nine hundred forty s. to provide employment the people with disabilities two weeks before christmas the government announced that they were going to close the package in factories and leaves a very bleak uncertain future for disabled workers killa stops was laid off from another rempel a factory back in april and she says the government of forcing people out of paid jobs and onto a life of welfare we were told in the week before we left the factory.

jobs. yeah in fact just four people from his old factory found a job it's not the first time the northern workers have felt the firm hand of a conservative government back in the one nine hundred eighty s. and the miners' strike and the margaret thatcher became a symbol of a divided nation this mining village in the living museum in the northeast gives us a snapshot of the past nearly three decades since margaret thatcher and her conservative government crushed the miners' unions the impact that policies had on the north east was extreme and long felt and even today there are many people who still have a deep mistrust of the conservative government the conservatives reputation up here is one that's hard to shake and it makes it hard for them to get a fair hearing on any plans to regenerate so to find out more we decided it was

time to pay a visit to number ten i was shocked at the level of understanding on the conservative benches of how people who live in. the northeast. visit the areas very often and i think they have a completely different view of how people's lives are but government accused of not understanding the north but isn't that your job to represent the things to be a fair bit of bickering that goes on among northern m.p.'s. well i mean having an accent in the house of commons you know i've got quite happy ducks and but that sort of you get sneers when you have an accent and you speak in the commons from the government benches so that in itself is just an example of how the mismatch between the two sides of the government insists it's treating grace in the area seriously and his earmarks money for infrastructure projects targeting the

northeast in particular but a legacy of let downs has left many northerners less than an seized what we're saying is the government this is going auburn this is not. it's a complete shambles so all in it together all the nation divided one thing seems. that with many predicting an increase in unemployment and a triple dip recession for the way the challenge of the year ahead looks to be testing times for everyone so r.t. . if you live from moscow on u.s. adoption of russian kids is about to be signed into law president putin is ready to put pen to paper in response to washington's sanctioning russian officials the details for you in just a few here on the program. and our news team to look back at how. his

groundbreaking interview show exclusively here on our. review of one of the main stories of twenty twelve after this show. you can tell an ordinary russian. in the blink of an. anthropologist. eight different food. different animals. but what about. my journey. but the big city was all shiny. scrapers and shopping malls much like any other prosperous. so i decided to. a small town just outside.

dumplings came from here to dominate the russian cuisine but only in siberia. with cabbage and making sure you can have as a starter main dish. most people in siberia see nothing wrong with hunting only if you decide to participate . look upon martin. as in the middle of a swamp only accessible by. its inhabited by so big. a large muslim minority that migrated head before the russians . this.

israel. even joining us now. president vladimir putin has confirmed that he will sign a ban preventing u.s. citizens from adopting russian children or make us a targets what they call america's ignorant treatment towards those who let russian children suffer. has more on president putin's agenda. he says that he

doesn't see any reason why he shouldn't sign it but he did mention that he should take one very close careful look at the final draft of this law on top of that however within has also mentioned that he is ready to sign. a law which would increase the protection of russian children in the country itself now the law bears the name. precisely like this the russian lawmakers say that the american system is not is not cut out to provide enough security for the russian children who are being adopted by american parents and should another tragedy like this strike they don't want the russian children to suffer now

a lot of people see this as they get back at the americans for the magnitsky act so-called act which entails a list of people. entering the united states and their financial assets in the country also are frozen now now said the minister was a russian lawyer who was imprisoned on charges of tax evasion and died while in custody that case has never seen any any logical conclusion it is not quite possible at this point to say whether or not the people who are accused of being involved in the case are actually at fault and should be blamed for his death is ridiculous reporting and now from refused to help the central african republic fight off the rebels that are closing in on its capital president francois hollande said paris is only protecting its interests and not the regime of the local protesters angry at a lack of action attacked the french embassy lawrence freeman of the executive intelligence review magazine says this is part of the post colonial fallout. these

developments do not occur overnight this has been brewing for years the french are playing a very bad role and if they get become militarily involved again in the central african republic that's not going to be healthy for african countries are going to have to move in and saudi's brown i think the french have a right to tap their embassy but beyond that if they become otero you it's not going to be helpful to the central african republic or any of the neighboring countries of the c.l.r. what's going on there is what's been going on in most of the countries in that region which is that you are very unstable governments these countries have never become sovereign the colonial powers france and to be require power britain have kept their finger on the resources of these countries and they basically have never allowed these countries to develop for government whence and they would develop the country for the people by economically. we'll get to the arctic shortly here on the

program for now though were russia does say the next generation of spacecraft design is ready it's a completely rebranding a new space ship capable of flying to the international space station and all the way to the moon those details on our website. also on line for you one russian family british car manufacturer bentley failing to live to its claims of luxury after a defective baggage claim the life of one man. has progressed into the world out there we go are starting with madrid's doctors and nurses once again they're on the streets calling for plans to privatise hospitals to be scrapped they are striking for a fifth week in a row medical workers also angry over possible layoffs but many still aren't sure whether their contracts will be renewed next year spain's government says the cuts are needed to maintain the health service through recession the country's regions are total of one hundred forty five billion euros and.

the opposition in its dismissed president morsi is calls for dialogue claiming he didn't offer any real substance it was on wednesday that morsi delivered his first national address after signing a charter. paving the road to democracy however the opposition insists the new constitution allows the islamic majority to form a dictatorship meanwhile egypt's prosecutor ordered an investigation into claims the opposition plotted to overthrow the regime. the newly elected japanese government plans to revise their decisions of phase out nuclear power by two thousand and forty the new prime minister declared sustained economic growth was his top priority and said rejecting nuclear energy could undermine one of the country's biggest areas of expertise last year an earthquake and ensuing tsunami brought the fukushima nuclear power plant close to disaster forcing thousands of people from their homes because of radiation leakage. now the festive atmosphere

has been reaching new heights as you can see right here the i assess crew enjoying the holiday spirit and way up above our heads the team of the international space station held their traditional video conference with russia's father frost just ahead of new year's celebrations they are in a rather tight church all over the next five months holding scientific experiments on space walks however now they're getting a chance to enjoy some free time during the holiday season. now the afghan foreign ministry says the country has lost over seventy million dollars in taxes because foreign firms are linked to nato and not paying their dues the report says tax dodgers rely on the u.s. led alliance to keep car bull off their backs but political analyst and former afghan m.p. the old sultanzoy he says the local politicians well they should shoulder some of the blame as well. what was going on in two thousand and one two thousand and two

when the interim authority came to existence in this country they signed deals exempting some of these companies who were dealing with need to and i south and then. many other companies came and started. carpetbagging in backpacking. illegitimate gains and they never paid taxes this is not new and this government will never have the guts to collect taxes from those rogue companies just an aviation alone. there are dozens and dozens of companies who are bringing passengers and cargo to this country and who are bringing other goods and they have never paid any taxes they've never paid even landing fees in some cases they haven't paid or flayed fees this is just aviation and you can imagine in other fields of commerce in. fuel and transportation and logistics and security in other arenas in all arenas there are hundreds of millions of dollars

every year there are scaping and this government also sometimes gives them some reprieve by reducing their taxes and exchange for bribes. has two thousand and twelve draws to a close we continue to look at all the events that helped to shape it today our news teams recall the launch of julian assange just program a broadcast exclusively here on r.t. the weekly standard gave voice to prominent figures shun typically by the mainstream media while he was still under house arrest in london. it was right on the new year's eve when i went to london to see june to discuss the news so. i'm julie in the sun.

it's true she wakes exposed the world secret these documents from the very beginning there were high profile show state strong with a lot of aids as a boxer so we created this web page with big video player and video feeds containing trailers sneak peeks most shows tend to have a spike and then go down to both mars it's online and you would keep climbing it's quite a quite a study about it i think will be viewed in historical terms this was quite an important piece of the julian assange show gains over a one million visits and views online and believe me or i'm intrigued show it's kind of an achievement never before we had anything like that on t.v. when one person sitting around the house the rapture would give voice to quiet quite a few people around the world whose position of the world doesn't fit in the mainstream

media picture. and many more twenty twelve recalls to come to stay with us if you can hear i say for now though in just a sec it's going to be abby martin being joined by three time academy award winning filmmaker all of a stone to talk about his subtly mildly prolific career this is a. admission

of free accreditation free transport charges free amazement free risk free studio types free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media oh don the r t dot com. wealthy british style. is not on my list for.

markets why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. mornings to do. games flared up. these are the images for world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying operations to rule the day. you live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous. i mean.

i know that i'm still looking for a really messy. and we're all very sort of sleep and. the worst we're going to go to the white house or to the. radio guy for minutes from a click. i want you to watch what we're about to do because you've never seen anything like this i'm told. come on guys i'm abby martin i can do a very special edition of breaking the set the show's a crusade against the mainstream media because i think it's important to rethink the establishment narrative unfortunately i'm not the only one oscar winning director all over stone has been on the very same mission for quite some time check out the function of media and everyone talks about that saying the news of the day

and all the subconscious really important stuff that's going on these being neglect for you to distract us from what you and i should care about because they're profit driven industry that sells a sensationalistic garbage he calls it breaking news. so without further ado here to talk about their new showtime series and book i'll be joined by oliver stone and later his co-author peter cousin ik so let's break that said. another lucky to do their job or seem anything like the trouble. this week marks the twenty fifth anniversary of the movie wall street a film that explores the greed and corruption that drives the gears of america's free market check it out if you're not. noticed. there was no nobility in poverty to morn.