breaking news international mikhail khodorkovsky lands in germany after being released from prison in russia after president putin signed a pardon what he called humanitarian principles. the idea that the people don't deserve access to knowledge because people cannot deal with. co-producer of a movie which shows just how hard it can be for whistleblowers to get the truth in print. and syria's embattled kurds take their ambitions for autonomy to a new level demanding a seat at next month's international peace talks in switzerland our top stories this.

hour from a studio city here in moscow which has turned eight pm this is international so after a decade of incarceration. is free russia's most high profile prisoner left jail and traveled to germany board a private jet let's get the latest now from. who is in berlin tell us peter what have you heard from the german officials who've obviously greeted khodorkovsky. well apparently received a warn your visa or on arrival to berlin shauna feld airport now he left the airport in a motorcade protected by police along with the for the german foreign minister hans dietrich genscher now it's understood that missed a game played a crucial role in negotiating the fees that it's allowed. to come here

to germany now it's unknown exactly where he's heading in this motorcade at the moment it's believed to be the upmarket and along the hotel right near the center of the city here but as soon as we find out where he's gone of course we'll be bringing you pictures live from there via artie's news agency ruptly who where this is where i'm broadcasting from their headquarters here right in the center of berlin so we'll be wherever he turns up we'll have pictures of that for you straight away now. we have heard statements from various people regarding holocaust arrival here in germany chancellor merkel's press spokes person well cook said that the the chancellor welcome to be. and that the federal government recognizes the sterling work done by former foreign minister genscher along with the work done by the chancellor herself and the government here in germany now but of course he arrived here on a private jet owned by i can tell you is owned by the o.b.o.

betterman group now they're an energy consultancy company that also offer a chance of private flights the very latest that we have is a statement that's been put out by. his spokes person can see in your piece now this is a statement that was put up on on facebook it takes the form of a letter from. some of the the main points of the stresses there he says that he put his petition to president vladimir putin on the twelfth of november asking to be pardoned asking to be released on humanitarian grounds. he said he was happy with the positive decision the positive decision that came from the president there he said that the question of admitting his guilt was never part of the petition that he put forward he thanked all of those that supported them throughout his time in prison and he couldn't wait to see loved ones friends and former colleagues he he said he constantly thinks of those who remain imprisoned and said he also had

a huge thank you to a former foreign minister again show for the work that that he done it does seem this. has been instrumental in getting holocaust ski here to germany of course if you cast your mind was the foreign minister for helmets call the reunification of germany so he knows what what's going on when it comes to high profile negotiations on the global stage a very senior diplomats. ending this letter by saying he was now wanted to spend time with his family and wishing everybody a merry christmas and a happy new year so as it stands at the moment he is he is currently driving from shawna feld airport which is just in the towards the east of the german capital when he turns up the way he turns up we'll be bringing it right here on our team now to talk a little bit more about what went on previously today before he left russia we can now hear from my colleague you got pissed going to of. prison work and of course

you spend his last days of imprisonment situated around a thousand kilometers of north west of moscow in the town of the years it used to be part of the gulag a system during the soviet times was quite a confusing day here where we are some people were talking about him driving off in the core others were talking about this helicopter which took him off directly to germany whole thing came as a complete surprise to everyone including of course these lawyers and his family members. i can't talk to him because he doesn't have you aren't. but i am in moscow right now and i don't know anything except for it's being said on the radio national if you haven't accepted what has happened yet and it is not you watch me since yesterday i'm still feeling lost and confused i guess i still can't believe it but also significant is that all the events that have been unfolding they have been for less than twenty four hours when the president broke the news that we

asked him to leave did it on the next day and apparently just a few hours after that of course he went free from jail where were closely following developments now that term in calcutta koskie has been freed now these are live pictures from outside his family home in the moscow region and we've been getting reports that members of his family are planning to join him in berlin where he arrived on a private jet earlier live pictures from outside his family home there stay with r.t. we'll bring you the latest as soon as we get it so now take a closer look at how could it cost his relations with the russian or panned out over the last ten years well back in february ninety seven he became chairman and c.e.o. of the private corporation you cos which produced a fifth of russia's oil now he became the country's richest man about six and a half years later he was arrested on fraud charges around the same time linked to the privatization of state assets he was eventually found guilty in may two thousand and five getting nine years in prison he appealed and had one year taken

off the sentence while in december two thousand and six there was a second case against the former tycoon and he was charged with embezzling three hundred fifty million tons of oil well those proceedings also ended with a guilty verdict and a fourteen year sentence but the court did count time already served well legal expert and blogger alexander believes there's no surprise he has now decided to leave russia. personally i don't think he would want to stay in russia that's my own. personal view i think he will want to go somewhere in the west maybe the germany is an easy place for him to go to but i wonder whether he want to stay there permanently he might want to go to britain he might want to go to the united states i doubt that he want to stay in russia itself he's been in prison for ten years he's business has been destroyed his political career if he ever intended to make one has been destroyed within russia he is

a discredited man well barris he's editor of business new europe says this really sends a positive signal to the business community in and out of russia but of course has been a cause celeb here put some eyes and personify a lot of the concerns that investors have particularly portfolio versus into doing business in investing into russian shares to let him out is not going to fix the problems with russia's perception but certainly it's a step in the right direction and i think at the end of the day the. stock investors quite pragmatic if not even cynical and to see how to cause to be released for them will be a positive signal and so much is a step in the right direction for investing into russia. and we'll be bringing you more news and perspective on because relief throughout the day here on r.t. and on our web site r.t. dot com. despite the vigorous attempts to whistle blows to expose the wrongdoings of governments is often quite difficult for them to find media outlets willing to

publicize the truth media stand a recent movie backed by we can leagues highlights their struggle. spoke to the film's director. it's been described as a wiki leaks road movie following the journey of a group of wiki leaks associates across central asia searching for media outlets to help publish secret diplomatic cables with making me do. something which which i would like to call an acid test and our us interest was one of the u.s. state department cables where you give these cables to certain. publications and see how they react to it most of the publications had difficulties in responding to and publishing secrets that had to do with the united states with empire and our yohannes wall strong helped direct the movie although a feature film wasn't the original plan initial goal was to actually distribute

this material that bradley manning allegedly makes to work in weeks and in that attempt to get the material out to the public and to people realize that there were . some interesting things happening in the way that the media were actually reacting to it the team traveled through central asian republics from kazakhstan to us occupied afghanistan all in an effort to partner with local news outlets to redact and then publish relevant cables to its. social group or diversion was only at the bulls you were. to believe that you really need it more than the other. question as to. whether you know another thing to this notion in case after case editors would initially show interest and then back off.

to me it was surprising. not as much based on the idea that these countries are bastions of free press and. but i was more surprised about. in their limitations i was surprised that many of the of the editors and journalists that we met. in the central asian republics they would would actually explain that there are certain things we can publish in certain cases we can actually see where a few years. of having your funds or something else does actually physically influence your ability and in reporting on. what you know in this particular test the material is american. but it's hard to tell to what extent it's a question of fear particularly from the united states or if it's a fear from the local regime a censorship of sorts that johan is believes exists within the western world as

well the idea that censorship is something that exists in. third world countries and speak but not in the enlightened west that idea i think has. been very challenged by we're critics the main point which which we're trying to make isn't that you know there is there is somebody which is more censored than somebody else the main point is that there is there is a certain degree of censorship everywhere and what would you say is the biggest obstacle to freedom of speech and freedom of information these days it's the biggest obstacle to to freedom of from of speech is the obstacle which isn't in our minds it is the the idea that the people don't deserve access to knowledge because people cannot deal with it and that idea in my opinion is there is not just a little stick it is. it's incredibly insulting but in making

a film about the boundaries of press freedom johana says he discovered a world that's moving away from old boundaries one of the most amazing things which has happened with them. with these releases and particularly if we speak about the n.s.a. documents it is. is that the censorship that we had just a few years ago has become irrelevant. and you can watch the movie online right now on our website dot com and meanwhile here nazi international just a couple of minutes report on the latest spy revelations cody's the edward snowden which suggest that many will come trees hoping the n.s.a. than previously thought. the media leave us a wee bit maybe. of the same motions to cure. all of the physical.

issues that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from. politics. i i i i i i i i i. i i. i.

i was here is kurdish minority wants a seat at next month's international peace conference in geneva they're pushing for autonomy in northern syria and have been fighting to protect their homes from radical islamist rebels while the kurds are the largest ethnic group without a country in the middle east and mostly spread out across a region they call kurdistan they make up keep minority groups in turkey syria iraq and iran with a total population estimated at around forty million and as part of the reports the kurds have their sights firmly set on the long awaited independence. discriminated repressed and divided for years the kurds were the scapegoats of the middle east but now the fortunes have turned resilient and hopeful history is on their side for

four thousand years kurds lived in iraq now they are enjoying defect autonomy and many believe independence is not far away but is now practical is another run by a powerful state in baghdad and a strongly believe that we are moving towards. a full independent kurdish state in the north of iraq across the border in turkey as much as twenty percent of the population is kurdish they fight for independence has long been a thorn in ankara side. always called for a kurd fighters they have more weapons and they'll never give them up easily but it's in syria where the kurds face their toughest fight they are caught up in the middle of a bloody civil war their territories are being claimed by al qaeda their villages raided their people killed residents of this kurdish villagers pursue fina forty five kilometers from aleppo say all it does is make them tougher fighters they are

prepared to die to protect their land and their people. now every night they want to restart the clashes but now we're well prepared because we made new bunkers so we have more ability than before if they attack us we are ready to defend ourselves if they don't we want to attack anybody. with such a strong fighting spirit and even stronger desire for sovereignty the kurdish influence in this part of the world is growing and arguably it might be only a matter of time until a new state appears on the map of the middle east policy or r.t. . the syrian government's been too busy with the civil war leaving the kurds to fend for themselves and one analyst told us the d.s.p. has capitalized on the power struggle to the fullest. because syria was a bold and by the fact that the arab spring came about the regional powers busy with internal strife with. the stability of the governments.

of the different factions syria fighting each other and the government is weak and the kurds have found an opportunity to run the ground to whatever they can and we're territory. historically has been to my to take he's not very happy because what he sees if the. the because in syria get hold of and have some sort of autonomy turkey fears that this will translate into or encourage. the kurdish population to demand the same rights or similar rights. on our website right now what is a christmas without a wish list well the world's first robot astronauts isn't missing out on what kind of present day off from board the international space station right now.

also there it takes nothing but molecular says it's to successfully treat. it online to learn about the groundbreaking new method which its german inventors claim is more than ninety percent effective. a number of european countries are third party partners of the united states spying program in other words they help america monitor the world that's according to a fresh batch of leaks provided by edward snowden. the netherlands spain and germany are among the states named reports contradict the early revelations which suggested germany was a subject of surveillance not an active part of the program jesselyn radack a former advisor to the u.s. justice department says the n.s.a. scandal has caused a rift among america's allies. the n.s.a. has spread its reach so many other countries including our nation which is completely unnecessary destroy its diplomacy economic relationships with other countries all for the purpose of gathering and storing

a bunch of data on innocent people all over the world tour suspected of doing absolutely nothing and i think we. are not among the five countries some of. the n.s.a. gathering. world. because again and their tentacles have been far reaching. for more world news in brief and at least eight people have been killed in a double bombing in iran the two explosions struck a livestock market in the town north of the capital baghdad while the victims were being buried another bomb went off killing three more just yesterday a group of suicide bombers targeted ship pilgrims in another region taking as many as thirty six knives bloodshed in iraq this year is reached levels not seen since two thousand and eight though if you don't call we got a special project looking back at how the.

parents clashed with teachers in southern mexico former members of staff arrived on pickup trucks to take over the school but faced fierce resistance hundreds of police had to be deployed to restore calm in september the teachers who went on strike was sacked and replaced with members of a different trade union. the european union's long term credit rating has been dealt a blow out of the great it from triple a to double a plus this despite on its recent signs of recovery being used as an example that the block is going in the right direction because all of these tests are still reports many are still looking abroad for better options. despite painful a steady three years and counting the irish capital of dublin is relatively bustling but the same can't be said for all other parts of the country carlo wants home to be are the sugar company death at the forefront of industry now stands empty this town is only one hour away from dublin but niles apart in terms of the

economy even if you just scratch the surface a look around you'll see a lot of these boarded up houses or shop fronts or for sale signs a shadow of what this used to be this is the center of. town for three hundred euros. fifty here and. while the government heralded arlen's exit from its international bailout as a success many find little to celebrate with others having long moved on in search of greener pastures people with skills people with jobs and i live in the country we thought that we put behind us the black plague effect of immigration out of the country and now it is back growing sectors of this economy which are importing workers from outside of violence on high wages with high skills and so forth completely deservedly but that is starting to draw these little bit of attention within the population as well the european commission statistics office figures

show thirty five thousand more people left are lending that arrived last year making arlen go from having had the highest net immigration levels in europe to the highest net emigration in just six years if we see one. i believe it said we want. you. to be here and when young emigrants do come back it won't come as a surprise if they're just back for the holidays like feel one who had just arrived from perth he left two years ago after completing a science degree and went on to become a videographer in australia there wasn't anything. sort of keeping me here besides my immediate family really all my friends it's a londoner canada just simply crossed the world so i made it very easy for you and while the holidays draw back the irish to their native land it will take more than a bailout exit to keep them home does are still your r.t.

arland. let's return to our top story now here not international after a decade of incarceration mikhail khodorkovsky is free russia's most high profile prisoner has left jail and is landed in germany on board a private jet let's get the very latest now from marty's peter over who is in berlin tell us what have you heard from the german officials since we last spoke peter. well actually since we last spoke last time we spoke i was saying that we didn't know exactly where mikhail khodorkovsky was here in berlin where we've had a few clues to exactly where he may be right now he was traveling in a motorcade from the airport just outside the city with former german foreign minister hans dieter again. now we have heard reports that densher has left the adelong the hotel an up market hotel right here in the center of the german capital that would suggest it had a cold ski was in that hotel however it does deal with

a lot of very high profile clients and has many different entrances some of them underground so we can't confirm that yet but the fact that genscher has been seen leaving from there does suggest that that's where mikhail khodorkovsky is now so the latest we have is. arrived here in berlin he received a one year visa that was apparently helped in the gauche ation of getting out so quickly by the former german for german foreign minister we've heard statements from a miracle spokesperson welcoming mikhail khodorkovsky here to germany and praising the work of genscher and the cooperation between russia and germany and being able to to get mikhail khodorkovsky quickly over to over here to germany now in a statement it's been issued an open letter by heart of course he thanked those that supported him he said he wanted to spend time with his family he did point out that it was on humanitarian grounds the pill to be set free and said he was happy for that to be done so and so he just wanted to spend some time with his family right now but i'll be bringing you all the latest on what's going on of the arrival

of mikhail khodorkovsky here in berlin as soon as we get it peter all of a thanks very much indeed for that this is art international live here in moscow larry king is coming away after a short break. the parliament of yemen has put forward a motion to ban drone attacks in the country the motion is now awaiting approval by the president and it's probably impossible to enforce unless they could build a really big net or something isn't it strange that now after years of drone strikes in their country the parliament just wakes up to the fact their systems are getting blown up from the sky to be fair yemen doesn't have a ton of cash and i could see how having the well equipped and funded u.s. military take care of the al qaeda problem for them for free could be really entices i mean it must be scary to be a politician with lots of power hungry terrorists about this would be the first time in history that a stronger foreign power fought a weaker states battles for them but the problem is that according to the

huffington post a former u.s. state department official in yemen says that every year drone attacks create eight from forty to sixty new terrorists why they create terrorists because according to the human rights watch seventy percent of the people killed by drones in yemen are civilians you know if the yemeni government is really free from washington's grasp and really wants to deal with their al qaeda problem they'll have better luck doing it themselves with the good old rifles and bayonets pointed at the right targets but that's just my opinion. the whole civil rights the next sunday talk show david gregory moderator of n.b.c. news meet the press joins us. from washington's amazing museum plus a look at christmas in washington including. the white house first lady michelle obama all next on politicking with larry.

from the fantastic museum in washington d.c. it is now but there's no place like this the newseum as we call it right right my fiance yeah it's a want to say news museum and it will have david gregory the moderator of n.b.c. news meet the press he's moderated since december of two thousand and eight he was the chief white house correspondent during the regime of george w. bush and meet the press is the oldest running sunday news talk show in american television history when you got this job forget of the things yeah and what was that like. it was extraordinary told well news president the time steve capice called it was them had to die but it was some time after that as you remember tom

brokaw filled in i think n.b.c. news did the smart thing which is after something is significant is that to to ease the transition into put tom into the job i think that was appropriate and it was a nice way to bridge that gap because it was going to be a difficult transition for anybody and it was thanksgiving i was in new york with my wife and our kids and our president called and said i was going to be moderator of meet the press and you know there had been a lot of speculation. running up to that but i was i was blown away i mean it's. it was always something that i thought about i never thought that it would necessarily happen i could imagine tim leaving that job and i certainly couldn't have imagined it at that stage of my life thirty eight years old to be in that position so but i remain blown away because it's just an amazing job i interviewed larry speed that the first we'll see of the four years was he was and he he really

you know he owned pieces show and he well yeah and he conceived of the show and you know we have a lot of photographs kind of the pictorial history of it and it's extraordinary and it was a radio show was a radio show and but you know rose kennedy wrote back and talked about what it meant for for her sons all three you know two then three three and four to have been on the program and ted kennedy spoke about how important it was to the family so yeah it was spivak was it was the guy and he really came up with the idea that you learn everything you can about the guests and you take the other side was sort of the basis of the accountability nature of the show oh and do the look at its history and has it changed really is still what it was was where you have that panel with the yeah and i look it's evolved over time but it became an hour from a half hour i mean one of the things i've tried to do in five years now is to understand the changing tastes.