an apparent witness to a cold blooded mass murder near damascus tells are two that dozens of people including children were killed by radical jihad as their. uncertainty hangs over ukraine as the e.u. says it's frozen trade talks while keeping up the pressure on the president and blaming moscow for meddling. but mexico is planning to privatized the pumps but if you're an oil tycoon don't get your cash out just yet hundreds of thousands of protesters are very valid to stop the state from selling out. its five pm here in moscow you're watching our team international with me and the

sonali straight to our top story this hour nazi like atrocities are being described in war torn syria residents of a small town outside damascus have told r.t. how they've witnessed anti-government islamist burning civilians and of ins and using others as human shields well the army struggling to throw the extremists out of the area say the horrific scenes did take place or she's arabic channel trying to get a clear picture of what happened. at that are two sources in the military say radical islamist fighters entered the town of an address and massacred local civilians according to the latest figures at least eighty people were killed in the districts which the syrian army has now liberated entire families were killed other families were kidnapped and are being used as human shields in the battle against government forces. militants from job i don't know strike and the army of islam seized control of all the streets and cross roads very quickly this iteration

became terrible there were killings outrage and fear on of them to fire the army and came to the city they carried out the slaughter the worst thing in their crime was when they shot people in the baker's old ones they keep those people and many were beaten some of the kidnapped families have been transferred to areas south of the town they are now being held in strategically important zones which the rebels have been using as a base of operations these places are heavily fortified sources also say the total death toll in an address main fact increase because the syrian army has not yet liberated the entire town of well just last week the u.s. and britain limited their aid to only moderate rebels due to the increasing inflow of al-qaeda linked jihad this as led some analysts to predict that the opposition might unite with the army against a common enemy. only a few months ago. supporters of the opposition and even the opposition itself was

being very quiet and many people turning a blind eye to the existence of a significant radical jihad or just al-qaeda linked elements running round it let's say in syria so it serves their interest at the time because the us britain and france were positioned themselves possibly for a military strike against the syrian government over the alleged chemical weapons affair but now his military intervention did not happen this is wholly different ballgame down in the opposition sees the danger here obviously the syrian government has seen it and said so from the onset well arty's arabic news team is trying to get more firsthand experiences from people in the city was apparently attacked by joe hobbists reports say dozens of civilians were massacred there if you missed anything or want to catch up on the story had to r.t. dot com to get more background. there are mixed signals over ukraine's

possible trade deal with the e.u. which has been the source of massive protests for a month a senior e.u. official stated that all talks are now on hold while ukraine's authorities say they're progressing and in this hesitant atmosphere the u.s. seems eager to assume the role of decision maker as alexei yourselves reports. trauma care. bremer oh there's very few america is where you. remember john mccain's media conference in kiev was rich in loud statements thinly veiled warnings to moscow we need to make it clear. to the russian government and latin your putin that interference in the affairs of ukraine is not acceptable to the united states of america or to any other free country in the world followed by explain. the threats to kiev if the movement membership and he does not achieve

that is going to have very serious effects here in ukraine and in u.s. trained relations he accused russia of interfering but many questioned why he was there in the first place it's not the first time john mccain has been seen playing a visit to those the united states is currently lending its support to he had a photo op with some syrian rebel kidnappers now it's a world boxing champion turned politician and mccain is not the only american politician in ukraine his appearance that gives independent square was preceded by u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland handing out cakes to the protesters the reason they are there is bluntly because i think these people want to detach the ukraine from russia as they see it and they think that by supporting the protesters in kiev they might actually achieve that the problem with that strategy is that it's simply not working the balance between the ukraine and russia economically and culturally ethnically and simply too strong and i think for

american politicians and indeed european politicians to go to the ukraine and to try to do that is actually very unwise and very dangerous and he simply exacerbating making worse the differences the divisions in the ukraine which are already very great but as u.s. officials seem keen on pushing the e.u.'s o.c.a. deal through brussels all but shut the door and signing it so we're tweets from the man in charge of e.u. expansion it's unclear whether it's a matter of the e.u. or not budging on ukraine's pleas for more financial help upon signing the agreement the previous offer of six hundred million euro was branded as humiliating by unocal which or brussels rumored willingness to seize any talks with this government this latest statement by the european ever so also puts huge pressure on the culverts because he has been saying all along seamlessly during press corps as it meets with european officials and the opposition. that ukraine would not step down from the euro integration. he was all expecting to sign the eurozone nations

in the year is the future and with the news that this prospect is as remote as ever the protesters resolve is now also being hardened by a rallying cry from the newest arrivals from america let's hear a chance to see reporting from kiev in ukraine. well it's not the first protests aimed at regime change where senator john mccain has popped up all of a sudden here he is embracing ukraine's aren't revolution almost a decade ago he's been at it for most ten years he was also a frequent flyer to georgia another former soviet republic that saw a color revolution remember we're all georgians mccain is friends with its now former president mikhail saakashvili who after coming to power move swiftly to crackdown on protests against his own administration now the arab spring didn't escape his attention either john mccain supported protestors on talk radio and in libya where he pushed for more active u.s. involvement in its civil war and asked for syria mccain was among the most vocal advocates for america to start bombing the regime and arming its rebels well as the

pro e.u. and anti-government protests in ukraine's capital rumble on they're becoming a source of conflicting media reports the numbers of protesters their motivation the actions of police and the diplomacy around the demonstrations are all being reported very differently around the world let's not get the opinion of graham phillips a british journalist who actually lives in ukraine and is reporting on the situation there thanks for joining us and you've written an article called your home i don and the twelve mythical twelve myths mythical mantras let's go through some of those montrose as we have you here the first most people on key of central square are protesters hugh claim it's a myth who else is there that mr philips will think now when you look at the situation in ukraine you will find. it's become very convenient to conflate numbers in attendance and protest is but are you telling me that those people. are as one with the hardcore movie if you were sitting around steel drums

warming themselves during the week i think it's become quite fashionable to it's almost become a festival and now if you put those numbers you lumping the people there. with the protesters i think you'd say it's extremely ambiguous to do so. that's true there were quite a few concerts over the weekend the next one ukrainian police beat innocent protesters we've heard this a lot from many different news sources and we've seen footage of some pretty harsh fighting in kiev if it's a myth why has the president then suspended some key officials over police actions that's true of course including the mayor of kiev and i certainly wouldn't question that has happened and i would not exculpate any police we've been gauging that from blame however what we're looking at is a very few police or to use all definitions have you seen the pictures as we all have a protest as we all get weapons chains to tear gas attacking police and then one

hand as soon as that has gone down soon as they themselves have received any injury they switch over from effectively terrorists to becoming innocent protesters so there was a very clever p.r. game from the opposition in terms of basically how they're playing the game and and how they're able to handle to a public which is very eager to give them sympathy under this auspices of being nice heroic protesters however cobra for example over one hundred police hospitalized on match day but that was what we heard about these these are not the headlines that we're reading which is police why protesters who were attacking them with all manner of projectiles and they'd assume as the police returned the eight the processes immediately become innocent victims of police brutality so i think we're looking at a very new and picture which the opposition has been able to break attentively to trade in terms of their own angle is the next one is everyone in ukraine wants to join the e.u. obviously the country is divided eastern ukraine maybe not so much but certainly in

western ukraine most people want to join the e.u. well as are some saloon case in western ukraine and of the internal political they see themselves as europeans and that is understandable so what we're really looking at is a. picture a quite ambiguous country because certainly in the east that is the case however ukraine is as it stands a country it is east and it is west and it is in the moment all back here in the sense of where you've got bussed loads of people coming from the west to protest you've got hundreds of thousands now the deal there is a population of seven hundred fifty thousand all of this area west recreate is basically in any case it's will upon eastern ukraine. though that is in a minority clique support the e.u. in fact is thirty nine percent ukraine so even down by fourteen percent so what you're looking at is a more active western movement which is militarized which is mobilized much more

effectively a much quicker than west which is typically russian leaning and traditionally party regions but now you've got a situation that they're turning out on the streets to make their own voices heard . it be very quickly branded as a provocateurs so it's again it's a very nuanced picture that as soon as a party of regions protesters out it's a paid provocateurs and yet on the other hand you've got these noble campaign is from the big incidentally who are themselves many of them on the payroll so i think it's very effectively being be made into a one sided debate and the west is winning the p.r. battle and this is the west of ukraine. many people would argue though that joining the e.u. is undoubtedly good for ukraine do you not agree with that and why. well i mean never mind that this is not joining the e.u. to say this is an association agreement now you create actually signed a deep association agreement with the e.u.

back in two thousand and eight so what this would give you crane on top of that is unclear because it wouldn't give the e.u. membership any case what would eventually give the if you look at the situation by garrett where you have riots at the moment the situation with the remaining economy and you can argue we're getting very little and what the e.u. doing at the moment is some have very mixed messages you get stephanie fuel saying that the deal is off and you call builds saying it's on and it's always on you really go to europe and be you kind of messing i'm going to pilates and stirring the situation was it wouldn't give ukraine is what ukraine needs at the moment which is hard cash which is twenty to twenty five billion short term ukraine is deeply invested in russia with those debt settlement to out if you create word to go over to john you look at a very unfavorable rate of interest in the e.u. is effectively offering kristie but it isn't offering hard cash and furthermore i

would say to the protesters in my dan are you really there for the future of ukraine to make your country better or are you there because you believe in a visa free system it will be easy if you to leave ukraine. russia plays hardball why the e.u. does diplomacy accusations are flying just briefly how do you see it. well i think with putin involved you always effectively go to reduce to the role of a pantomime baddie basically which is what he's playing this is the pantomime but everything he does and everything that russia does is is always black and is always charged and he's taught with the e.u. shining knights of the day who are able to send down fire diplomats unlimited crowd pleasing crowd baiting pandering backslapping tweets all about john mccain of course involve the wonder of the future of europe all of this shining prosperity

that's going to be conferred upon ukraine but have they done the numbers they know the statistics on the event that interested or seem to become convenient to polarize russia as the pantomime villain of the piece which is to take any comment out of the equation what is happening in europe why don't graham phillips thank you so much for your analysis thank you very. well the issue of moscow supposed pressure on ukraine is one of the main topics for a meeting between russia's foreign minister and the top diplomats that are silly have reports from brussels. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov visit to brussels comes on the back of a tweet from the e.u. chief for enlargement who says that the e.u. believes that ukraine's position on the go seizures of the association agreement is quote unquote now has no ground in reality now the ukrainian prime minister's office has responded to that and said that ukraine is very much open to continuing

negotiations with you however it will not respond to tweets it will respond to official messages and also it wants to if it does decide to sign it wants to do so on its own terms that as far as russia is concerned here among the meetings of the foreign ministers the deputy foreign minister of lithuania who is also chairing and presiding over the e.u. council and said that sergei lavrov can expect to be told about a quarter quote the inadmissibility of putting pressure to bear on ukraine now the permanent representative of russia to the e.u. has responded to that it has also turned the table in question be very actions of the e.u. towards kiev basically likening it to to steamrolling and also reiterated that it is ukraine sovereign choice to sign or not to sign that it. also to be commenting on that or to i asked that very same question but aside from ukraine there is also a slew of other topics that they will discuss such as promoting bilateral relations between russia and the e.u. in in the lion with the upcoming summit touching upon visa free travel for instance

energy cooperation as well as iran and syria so the foreign ministers today really have a lot on their plates. coming up the cross hopes of those who are coming of age in egypt there's disillusionment among the countries younger generation with how the arab spring turned out and their main goal now to get out and live abroad coming up shortly.

with economic downturn in the final months they belong to the old shanghai and the rest of life doing the case you'll be every week. welcome back you're watching r.t. international live from moscow a new oil rush is brewing in the americas and this time the world's energy

corporations have their sights set on mexico protesters have erupted across protests rather have erupted across the country after lawmakers voted to do away with seventy five years of oil nationalization and open up the country's reserves to the highest bidder well the plan has already been approved by more than a third of mexico's states but while all tycoons have cause to celebrate hundreds of thousands of protesters are denouncing it as an act of betrayal by their government in the latest of in a series of disappointments artie's nicolas o'donovan witness one such demonstration. protests against the energy reform have been held in all major cities across mexico it's a new demonstration of power of those who oppose what they government has approved without their consent we can't forget that there is three points of the mexican constitution that will be modified under the new measure for many mexicans this new era in the energy sector just means the beginning of the end of the country's

independence many also believes that the whole process has been just a farce and that the decision was really already made even before the debate began the rapid approval that the reform is getting in the local teleco a should certainly strengthens the position of those who think the politicians of mexico aren't on the side of the people on the side of commercial interests losing that is not interested in asking the people they don't care about what we think at all this states will have to reform a truth in ten minutes they know know what they are doing their betraying us the streets are the only thing we have now and will do only takes to defend them symbolically protesters in mexico city the nation's capital chose the square of in the. it's to kickoff a massive march pressure tension and frustration being built up here it's not only about the energy reform they talk about education reform rebel stronghold policies indeed it's just the mexican people coming together really to demonstrate to

government they just are not happy with their policies. under the new proposal the state oil company pemex will be reduced to a shadow of its former self workers representatives will be removed from the board of directors callup mao pin a socialist campaigner for the international action center thinks this is bad news for the mexican people. the oil in mexico this is something that the mexican people you know have called claims for themselves they say it's their property they say belongs to doubt but now just like so much of the wealth of the world's being privatized being handed over to private corporations and being utilized to make profits work for some capitalist and that's that's an outrage and that's why the people are are rising up against it that's why we see all these massive outcry because the people of mexico well have really made clear that the government of mexico doesn't represent them it represents interests in the united states and they would like sovereignty and independence. russia might consider a decade long ban on genetically modified foods on our web site scientists are

urging the government to give them ten years to study the effects on humans the controversial product. and keep your drones out yemen's parliament votes to ban a man strikes amid seething outrage over a deadly u.s. attacks more on that at our team dot com. egypt has set a date for a referendum on its new constitution the mid january vote is seen as the biggest test so far for the military led government's authority but the campaign has already had its fair share of scandal this is a banner of promoting the constitution as representing all egyptians but the poster itself seems to have fallen short of that idea it shows stock images of people most likely westerners who pop up on the end on internet searches the timing isn't good for the government with young egyptians increasingly disillusioned with the result of their revolution beltran reports on their hopes for

a better future. a young egyptian design student sits in his favorite downtown cairo cafe talking about a better life uproots three years on from participating in two thousand and eleven is revolution is frustrated by the state of the country he says once he finishes his studies he'll have to leave because hear your story for four years then you don't find a job at the end of it there are better chances are solid egypt where i can find the freedom to work with the skills that i have that is one of the most important reasons forcing people to leave egypt there are eight million egyptians already abroad and others looking to join them as the economy flatlines in the political instability even if the economy of the country will grow in the future the double digits there will never be able to accommodate every new job seekers there is going to be always a percentage of the pop. they would seek job elsewhere job outside of the country

youth unemployment rates are at a staggering seventy seven percent and that may well rise after years of turmoil for young men like almost seeking work abroad is often the only option but it's not just the economy driving egyptians to leave some feeling a growing crackdown on political freedoms a growing numbers of activists are now facing jail sentences after the military installed government enforced the law banning protests without official permission daily battles between student protesters and security forces broke egypt's campuses police and the army continue to patrol the streets here where we need democracy freedom better health care and social justice to fulfill the main demands of our revolution the police need to change the whole regime needs to have a better ideological way of dealing with egypt or more people will go the government hopes and new constitution and upcoming elections will help stabilize egypt but until egyptians can find work and enjoy basic freedoms more will be

forced to leave boucherie for r.t. . now for some more global headlines for you this hour a british shell gas really company got a rude awakening this morning after anti fracking activists block the entrance to a well with a massive wind term by the seventeen meter one and a half ton green machine was described as a christmas gift by the activists britain is wrestling over the benefits and pitfalls of fracking which offers cheap energy but at a potentially serious environmental cost. series of attacks across iraq has killed at least fifty four people the deadliest happened two hundred kilometers north of baghdad when a suicide bomber blew up his car at the gates of a police station three more attackers then made it inside before blowing themselves up killing eight officers while in near boy nearby to create gunmen forced their way into the city council building and have barricaded themselves inside. a group

of soldiers has apparently attempted to overthrow the government of south sudan officials say the fighters were reportedly led by a former vice president they ransacked a weapons depot in the capital juba before attacking military installations an army spokesman says the attempted coup was squashed and politicians linked to the uprising have been arrested. i'm back with more news in half an hour until then it's the week sports with kate. if you leave with economic ups and downs in the final month they belong to the new york sang i and the rest because i was going to make you believe everything we told

me. put it under a little more than a lot of the new knowledge base just like you know alone. a pleasure to have you with us here on our t.v. today i roll researcher. hello welcome to the r t sports show coming up our twenty six action packed minutes

of sport from russia and around the world with me kate partridge and here's just a taste of. top of the tree was a neat lead the table at christmas in russia finally an excuse the same in germany going seven points clear with a three one home went over hound. while the kings of the court discuss avenge their recent loss to barcelona with an eleven point victory over their rivals in moscow as the top sixteen beckons in the euro league. and the devil of a k h l tesco moscow are stunned for a fourth time to minnows sloven and we take a look at the slovakia you colors and their superstar captain mean to slap shot down. so let's kick off with football and with the russian premier league now in its winter break so these are top of the table at christmas while by munich will be the same in germany going seven points clear and still unbeaten in the league with a three one home went over how but guardiola side bounced back from their surprise

three two champions league defeat at home to manchester city to stretch their unbeaten wonderfully good run to forty one games mario monk you could headed the hosts in front of the forty two minutes against a back lane hamburg and seven minutes after the restart volley didn't to make it to nil well the visitors mashallah saw the grab to go back later on but kerry racked up victory in stoppage time to inflict a fourth defeat in six games of the visitors. while simon who appears by laver cruzan stayed second but a man seven points off the top spot after a shock one zero defeat at home to struggling i'm proud to frankfurt the burned out marco rust headed the visitors in front of the hour they're going to keep kevin trout help preserve the lead they could have doubled it after being what to do. p.s. penalty would strike at joe saloon missed with the last kick of the game the victory

ended frankfurt's tangoing winless run and handed lay vicars and their third loss of the season. while the dortmund are now twelve points of top spot after coming back from two goals down to do it two to a perfect time then ship what marked his signing of a new five year deal with the eighteenth when it opened up and maybe bell and maybe two will twenty minutes later but just before half time goalkeeper young's brawl fumbled a corner and yet every one may i'm wrong back and midway through the second half who cashed this check levelled from close range two to dortmund stage third on goal difference. while here in russia the premier league held a garter ceremony to honor some of the country's best players so the midfielder a man should all call for striking teammate alexander both and says god defender surrogate ignition which were all given a special award for their full attributes into the.