the end of foreign backing for terrorism and the formation of a new government president assad. over the fiscal cliff. preventing a nationwide financial disaster. forced into revealing it knew about. the leaders of occupy wall street but chose not to. move. to russian passport after falling out with the government in france.

with the top stories of the week today this is their weekly. live in moscow the syrian leader has outlined his vision. of continued civil conflict i want of the key conditions for peace according to president bashar al assad is for a regional and international powers to stop supporting the groups. he was following exactly what he had to say. well there has certainly been rather interesting quotes coming from the syrian president he in fact called to hold an international reconciliation conference. and the violence and the military conflict which is

going on it's been going on for almost two years now in syria and this initiative according to assad will lead to a national wide referendum and fair election which is the only way according to the syrian president that the political landscape in this country can be changed but this initiative can only be possible according to assad if the western countries and some regional countries as he put it stop investing into terrorist groups which are fighting to overthrow. his regime has been again pretty much a defined term thing that the only way that syria will listen to the outside world is through a device not through a dictating will this speech of the syrian president comes amid very serious concerns about the safety of journalists working in syria the year has only just started but already we have a syrian a pro governmental journalist killed this week who was wounded and then taken to

the hospital where he later died also my own colleagues from r.t. arabic station he got injured among a group of other journalists who were covering the movement of a governmental convoy through the country. says that they were shot at by the rebels despite wearing special jackets with the word press on them that also has been an ongoing story of ukrainian journalist on how to question about who's been missing and nobody knows where she is and whether she's actually alive but the reports that she was kidnapped by the rebels and there was a ransom demand that for her release outraged many organizations with the reports that syria has already been named as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists to work at certainly things are not looking any better at the moment. it is a lecture to shasta reporting that president assad has said that his government is not willing to negotiate with those opposition groups which he considers to be

puppets of the west but political activists abdullah told me just a bit earlier that assad will have a hard job finding that any that are not an internal opposition or internal figures may still be. those who support from the outside and as the same time. opposition members who are based outside syria still are independent and loyalists the west or the or the other regional powers are operating the struggle in syria so for him i think the red line he drew was a call for international intervention for example those voices that called for nato intervention for no fly zones over syria for sending arms and rebels all these opposition voices that currently recognized extremist groups such as. in his view to destabilize syria. well almost two years of anti-government

protests change little in bahrain fresh from reform demonstrations shatter against the wall of a police crackdown some experts saying it's their brutality that's helping to fuel the uprising. and the u.s. military is now allowed to hold terror suspects for as long as it wants americans or foreigners thanks to the new national defense authorization act in just a few minutes i will take a very close look here on r.t. . for now barack obama signed a last minute deal that increases taxes on the wealthiest americans prevented the country falling over the so-called fiscal cliff and the nation was on the brink of a financial nosedive with billions of dollars in tax hikes automatically coming into effect if indeed the law hadn't been passed charlie mcgrath from the wide awake news thinks the fate of americans has never really been a top priority for the u.s. government is an enemy when the cameras are off and it's time to pass

a trillion dollar nearly trillion dollar defense bill they have no problem whatsoever coming to coming together and holding hands or put that kind of deal together since two thousand and one namely we've been governing this nation by proxy the world by crisis and it doesn't matter who gets hurt who's good who gets left by the wayside as long as a special interest is served so is long as it's always under the shadow of a crisis they will act when it's only when it has to do with acting in behalf of the people of this nation it seems like the people always take a backseat and artie's economic expert as i think is the deal might indeed bring some short term relief but in the long run well the problems just aren't going any . the fiscal cliff is just more a theater bank. trying to distract people from the underlying root catastrophe that is a bunch of bankers who are manipulating the system day in and day out the strong economy this fiscal cliff is just more more theater and it doesn't really focus on

the true underlying problems and we're going to see more of this going forward in two thousand and thirteen anything to the tension from the mob what they're pitchforks and torches there are coming after these people they want to just delay that day of reckoning for as many months as they can but that day's reckoning twenty thirteen it's coming. all right that same old stuff as always but the crazy to say the least you can always get more financial analysis and forecasts for the new year. any time you feel like it just a click away at. now recently leaked f.b.i. document shows the bureau knew of a plan to assassinate occupy wall street leaders but gave them no warning that it chose to keep spying on the movement which you branded as

a domestic terrorist group more important i asked the story. well it's not clear yet why the f.b.i. would neglect to tell activists there was a potential assassination plot surrounding them what we do know is that new documents obtained by the partnership for civil justice fund a us human human and civil rights advocacy organization have revealed that the u.s. the f.b.i. the department of homeland security the u.s. military and private corporations all cooperated together to monitor and investigate occupy wall street protesters as quote domestic terrorists and quote criminals now the more shocking revelation the headline of this story is that reportedly buried deep within the government. mentions of a plan to use snipers to assassinate occupy protesters in the movement's leaders in various cities throughout the country these alleged plans were supposed to be taking place in the fall of two thousand and eleven know the names of the groups or

individuals involved in the alleged plot are redacted from the f.b.i. documents but what critics say is clear is that the f.b.i. never alerted anyone of the potential any of the potential victims that their lives could possibly be in danger or that there's any threat surrounding them the partnership for civil justice fund received the f.b.i. documents on december twenty second so this is fairly new information and this was after they filed a request under the freedom of information after many civil rights attorneys previously have accused the f.b.i. of functioning as a de facto intelligence arm for u.s. corporations during the occupy wall street movement and especially as it grew bigger however some critics say they never ever suspected that the f.b.i. would neglect to tell occupy protesters u.s. citizens about an assassination plot surrounding them. we've certainly got a lot more on the f.b.i. documents on occupy wall street or including the exact wording just find it all that hot seat dot com. protests calls for reform and police

violently lashing out of anti-government rallies it's a picture that's been haunting bahrain for almost two years now the demonstrators still urging a transition to a democratically elected government as my daughter was from the european behind the organization for human rights claims even the most innocent people are falling victim to the ongoing police crackdown on security forces who are working for the ministry of interior and mccain are practicing a lot of buy in ends and a lot to boil ations to human rights when confronting when pro-democracy protests and behind the protestors here in although they are those radical rightists years they are the minority and not the majority but to be are using such methods to prevent their wireless security forces from entering their their their religious and tacking on armed civilians and children like we witnessed and the big you hand

off of the four year old child being attacked by security forces with your gas canisters. now a natural catalyst for discord it's no easy thing getting immigration rights but russia is among the four nations that have come to the u.n. just a bit later on the program we'll report on what it is that makes a country. hopeful. protests in northern ireland. with people arrested for allegedly shooting at them a small rest after this break.

the way. i.

could have you with us here today i'm rory sushi in moscow. around a thousand loyalist protesters have been wreaking havoc over the weekend in the northern irish capital belfast with airports of shots being fired at police lines and the city has been witnessing on rest since a decision by the local authorities in december to fly the british union flag only on designated occasions rather than you round a just and waltz from the christian science monitor things there are deeper reasons for the unrest than simply a flag being taken down but this was traditionally throughout its history been a predominantly protestant and unionist city and the latest census results show that's not really the case any longer it's not slightly it's like a republican. majority or where the decision itself to fly the flag only on seventeen designated days a year taken on december third. reflects this change and that seems to be what's

troubling with loyalists rather than the flag it so because in fact flying the flag simply brings it into line with other british government and civic building. now the origins of the brotherhood's billions egypt's ruling is the most stunning accused of taking vast sums from the u.s. government and using the money to provoke violence protests and more still to come on the program. and at the church of england it may be the official religion of the u.k. but it's under attack from all sides with attendances hitting rock bottom and people being tempted away by other beliefs coming up a bit later on we look at whether the institution should be saying its prayers and mobilize them one. time this week president obama signed a law allowing to be indefinite detention of u.s. terror suspects without trial of a national defense authorization act also delays the closure of the kuantan of up

a prison for another year veteran congressman dennis kucinich thinks the move is part of a pattern ultimately undermining democracy right now we're much more of a garrison and garrison plus. a powerful military which keeps asserting itself globally and it doesn't make america any safer and frankly doesn't make the world safer we're spending upwards of six hundred billion dollars for an expanded pentagon presence for more war in afghanistan and for proliferation of war in in yemen and somalia and other places we have a lot of problems here at home that we're not taking care of we have massive unemployment people are losing their homes people are losing their retirement security and i continue to say that we have to start emphasizing taking care of things here at home instead of developing a bigger footprint around the world as far as our military presence. this is arts

he and the high price of x. rated diplomacy for all those details. about the colombia loses his job after a wild christmas orgy with prostitutes held inside the embassy. reported he wasn't even there for all the fun. and many. erected in the form of warsaw ghetto. locals who say it's an insult to all victims of the full story on our website. big screen superstar. celebrating in his new homeland after being handed his very own russian passport following dinner with vladimir putin at the movie icon left his native france over what he called a punishing tax rates pushed on the rich by the new president a radio station in paris has claimed five thousand french citizens have fled the country since francois took office thanks to his tax policies and just one of the

countries they've been moving to is russia just a bit earlier here on. the largest country. and you know. let's look at the taxes and that's the question at hand right now if you look at russia the current laws we have a flat tax rate here of thirteen percent in fact france and germany they both have complicated tax code if you look at france the forty one percent right now up to forty one percent in germany up to forty five percent as opposed to russia thirteen percent so you can see it's a very attractive to come to russia but if this new law comes into effect in france that mark for france goes up to seventy five percent making russia even more attractive so you know why the super rich would be wanting to move over here and certainly there when it comes to the global meltdown that we've been seeing for years particularly twenty twelve was not a good year for the eurozone or for much of the world and. but somehow russia

managed to avoid the global economic crisis and that is certainly the case in fact it is one of the brics countries which means it is one of the emerging markets in the world but if you look at what's been happening around europe in fact in the past year we've been seeing austerity protests we've been seeing people coming to the streets who are looking for jobs and in fact the unemployment rate's if you look at greece twenty six percent if you look at the e.u. in general the average there eleven percent if you look at the unemployment rate in russia only six point four percent so you can see there are more jobs to be had here less people looking for work less of a dire situation but it's also an emerging market it is a diversifying market in things here relatively much more stable than in the rest of europe certainly a lot of people saying there's an awful lot of opportunity here right here in russia the biggest country on the planet interesting that the united nations is actually taking a moment to appraise russia's immigration policies that what's what about well certainly if you look at the numbers the most recent numbers in fact show that russia is the second most desirable country for immigrants to come to only second

to the united states in fact in fact it can be a little bit confusing because people look at the numbers about moscow being one of the most expensive cities for ex-pats to live well that's for ex-pats and it is true things here it is a big city it can be expensive but if you look at average cost of food it's cheaper than the rest of europe much cheaper to live here for gas prices as well now keep in mind moscow russia you know this is the biggest city in the countries of course things are going to be a little bit more expensive here but russian general things cheaper than in europe regardless of that it's just a fun place to be and it certainly is in fact the arts in the culture of the entertainment here in moscow is famous for its nightlife but if you look past that we have famous musicians coming from russia famous artists famous history architecture all of that here but i'm going to say russia has always had this balance between east and west right so if you look at the orthodox culture in the western cultures i think that the real reason people come here is that you get two christmases and you get two new years. r.t. sean thomas right there where we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow

and egypt's muslim brotherhood is under investigation for taking billions of dollars from the u.s. before even coming to power it's also alleged the brotherhood used the money to fund armed cells involved in sparking violence of protests and one of the lawyers that father complained yet of mohammed sayed says the money was all about preserving interest. this money might have been beneficial to both be american side promises support for the muslim brotherhood while they in turn promised to secure american interests in egypt namely a u.s. air force base in the province of. dealing with the brotherhood as a political authority is permissible for funding it before it had even come to power is not we also believe that the brotherhood run cells tasked with provoking public unrest and violence are protests to form an active member who quit the brotherhood spoke of such groups who carried out operations for the muslim

brotherhood benefit. well it's english as a sunday roast but the church of england isn't as strong as it used to be and as people leave the institution in their droves artie's looks at whether it can still justify its special status in the u.k. . one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world with one official state religion to some it's a paradox i think any institute any faith institution like the church of england is going to have some potential threats on the horizon and those threats on the horizon are basically around its relevance to communities in general other faiths are significant and growing in. population but the voice in a social and political level so it's really important to have a plurality of opinion rather than just focus on one institution as being reflective of the nation yet the national church has twenty six on the elected

members in the house of lords the upper house of britain's parliament and it enjoys financial privileges courtesy of the u.k. taxpayer by the church's own admission the number of people coming through the doors of this and every other church in england has harvard over the past forty years the very same report even warns that in the longer term the established religion faces fading away to relevance twenty anglican churches just like this one being closed down for worship each year entrepreneurial property developers a snapping them up and converting them to luxury housing or even light clubs while the number of church goers in the u.k. continues to fall some one hundred thousand britons have converted to islam over the past decade three quarters of those white women as you know broaden my knowledge about islam and compared with christianity i must tell you i found it

more logical you know it just resonates with me i like what the prince of wales but he wants to be if ever he becomes king he wants to be the leader of faith of all faiths but i think it's a wonderful statement because certainly our society here in britain is very multicolor. very multi-faith so everybody should be included while other faiths enjoy popularity the church of england says recent rejection of women bishops and disapproval of gay marriage has reignited the age old debate on the separation of church and state people feel alienated if they're not part of that church and so few people are because only two percent go to church on a normal sunday so that's why we must i think make sure the church is disestablished in the twenty six bishops that votes in the house of lords the only country in the world to have a parliament where they have the right to do that should be extinguished britain

now has one of the lowest rates of church attendance in europe there is a rule. in terms of religious opinions there is and that will grow and that may actually become wider as time goes on and so i guess what we have today is is the church effectively being relevant to certain parts of this country despite centuries of tradition some question what will be left of the church of england in fifty years time though the statistics are very clear very clear almost disappeared with something i think the twenty fifty figures are one hundred thousand people in the pews on an average sunday out of a population of sixty million that's miniscule but the privileges and political influence afforded to it are far from trivial and that's what's fuelling the cause

of those who say that it's fairer to separate the church from the state party boy r t london. with british prime minister david cameron he says he's willing to fight to keep control of the falkland islands he said his government has the weapons will defend the territory from any advances of a military base on the islands the. prime minister has called for negotiations over the disputed territory the two nations fought a war over a nine hundred eighty two a referendum will be held in march when the islanders will vote to decide. one hundred missing and thousands more have been displaced as fires raged across australia winds and very high temperatures nationwide have provided the perfect conditions for dangerous bushfires to break out evacuation centers in tasmania have been inundated. by

a coalition of political protest. the twenty five people were hurt in the demonstrations and several vehicles were set on fire it's the fifth time since two thousand and nine that the government has hiked. up ahead for you know it's a wonder for anyone who can. take you now to discuss russia's amazing. just. the. technology innovation. around russia. wealthy british style. was.

financed scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy. financial headline news to report on our. secret laboratory tim curry was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot fortunately dorna found anything mission to teach the creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only. you. a small and ancient russian merchant city sits at the confluence of three rivers. it's not quite europe but it's not a nation either. native of congo or he heads off to work each day at the same

time. constant in has been conducting independent research for ten years now his professional news out of the ordinary for most people but it's quite natural for those living in the you'll see it mixes danger with excitement. the city's protected reserve early morning enjoys a few precious moments before being plunged into darkness. i constantine how are things at the site everything is alright no problem i'll give you the keys a group of scientists is arriving today and we should check everything carefully ok them. ok. another day begins in this beautiful countryside. every day people working at the site have to walk ten kilometers back and forth for all passers by obligatory to strike singing. the more beautiful the seldom mix the more likely

a wish is to come true. on the one hand everything seems to have stopped dead here on the other hand a specialist can always see how the cave has changed over time the place is a living organism and an underground paradise for geologists and researches lying beneath the banks of the still the river and at the depths of the ice mountain hides the pearl of congo or. the congo or ice caves camps or the interest of many scientists and it's no wonder the cave is considered one of the most beautiful ice cabins in the world hello hello how are you well yes the scientists we've been waiting for have arrived this is a complex expedition they'll go into the cave to under.