breaking news on r.t. . lands in germany after being released from prison in russia president putin signed a pardon what he called humanitarian principles also. the idea that the people don't deserve access to knowledge because people cannot deal with. a wiki leaks associate 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.

from a student center here in moscow where it's just past ten pm this is r.t. international after a decade of incarceration mikhail khodorkovsky is free russia's most high profile prisoner left jail and traveled to germany on board a private jet went on. joins me now live so germany seems to be very involved in all of this hasn't it. well germany has been very involved in deed what we've seen is. arrive here burly in short a failed airport on a private jet there was apparently ordered for him by former foreign minister hans dietrich genscher he was the foreign minister in the eighty's and early ninety's now it turns out mr gain share has been instrumental in orchestrating this move of

. leaving jail in russia and arriving here eventually in the evening time local time in berlin now he also it seems it organized him a one year shain gandee that it would allow him to to stay in the european union in the end zone there now speaking we understand now that he is in a hotel in central just needs of the brandenburg gate. just again she has since spoken on german television now in that in that interview that he give he said that mikhail khodorkovsky was grateful to the mercy of russian president vladimir putin for granting him the the pardon that he petitioned for. now we also have heard from chance german chancellor angela merkel saying that she welcomes me how to called ski here to germany and it was a case that she'd followed with great interest in that it involved cooperation behind the scenes between both the russian and german governments in order to make

this all happen that he arrived here so. we have heard a statement an open letter from. him which he he outlines exactly what what happened how he got into the situation of being freed that he applied petitioned president vladimir putin on humanitarian grounds to be released back in the twelfth of november and that he was very pleased for that request on humanitarian grounds to be granted so that's basically where we are at the moment he's here in berlin we haven't seen him yet in central berlin we did. catch a glimpse of him slightly at the airport but those doing the talking for him say he's here and he's very grateful to those who have released them and very happy to be to be out and free and the big question is of course what will his next move be i think that is the million dollar question well from the open letter to be released by him and from statements from his his spokes person who's been speaking

in moscow family is the main thing for him next now mr hodder called skis mother had been receiving treatment for cancer here in berlin she's currently in moscow along with his father we understand they will be flying here to berlin on saturday we're also hearing his son from his first marriage who is in in new york is on his way here to berlin and we believe his his second wife and the family that they have that are in moscow also will be will be coming here basically in the the letter he said the next move for him the very next move is to spend the new year's holidays with his family the new year's holidays of course very important holiday in the russian calendar any emphatic ended the open letter by wishing everybody a very merry christmas and a happy new year and sure to be a very emotional new year's holidays for the holocaust ski's the first time of the able to celebrate that as a family but yes because of course he's here in berlin and looking forward to

seeing his family. prison worker of course you spent his last days of imprisonment situated around a thousand kilometers north west of moscow in the town of together used to be part of the gulag system during the soviet times it was quite a confusing day here where we are some people were talking about him driving off in the car 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 you know i can't talk to him because he doesn't have you know what i am in moscow right now and i don't know anything except for i speak said on the radio national if you haven't accepted what has happened yet and you didn't you know watch me since yesterday i'm still feeling lost and confused i guess i still can't believe it is also significant is that all the events that have been unfolding they

happened to less than twenty four hours then president broke the news that he asked him to be pardoned we did it on the next day and apparently just a few hours after that may call for course he went free from jail. well much speculation in the western media has suggested hostilities surrounding the winter olympics in sochi could be a reason for could cost his release but author and russian affairs analyst martin mccauley i spoke to him a little earlier he disagrees but i don't see really a direct link between. you because no one's going to get. his release because the vast majority of russians. he was one of the richest men in the national average russian doesn't really like these people are very rich very supportive many ways are abroad but the other point of view is that russia needs fall and direct investment it needs a climate in which foreigners will invest in russia so this may be linked to improving the f.b.i.

because. as long as he was in jail the average business was the worst that could happen to me or one of my children. and they may in fact come back and say right possibly the environment is. what we're closely following developments now that. he has been freed these are the latest pictures from outside his family home in the moscow region we've been getting reports that members of his family plan to join him in berlin where he arrived on a private jet earlier and these are live pictures now from our cameras which are camped outside the hotel where he is supposed to be staying these are live pictures there from berlin stay with r.t. international for all the latest on this story now let's take a closer look now at. his relations with the russian law panned out over the last ten years well back in february hundred seventy became chairman and c.e.o. of the private corporation you cos which produced a fifth of russia's oil. 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 well he was eventually found guilty in may two thousand and five getting nine years in prison he appealed and had one year taken off that sentence and. but two thousand and six there was a second case against a former tycoon who was charged with embezzling three hundred fifty million tonnes of oil now those proceedings also ended with a guilty verdict on a fourteen year sentence but the court counted time already served a legal expert and blogger and examine the curious 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 you have the intended to make one has been destroyed within russia he is a discredited man well ben heiress 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 basically portfolio investors into doing business in investing into russian shares to let him out is not to say it's 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 investors stock investors should quite pragmatic if my 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 more news and perspective on mikhail khodorkovsky released throughout the day here on

r.t. international and on our website r.t. dot com. despite the vigorous attempts of whistleblowers to expose the wrongdoings of governments it's often quite difficult for them to find media outlets willing to publicize the truth media's than a recent movie backed by leaks highlights their struggle obviously cavanaugh 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 with united states with empire in our world johannes 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 we realize that there were. some interesting things happening in the way that the media were actually reacting to it the team travelled 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 diverse resign your suppose you were to get more visit with you but. most of the other. question is to. get. another thing traditional 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 or not but. i was more surprised about the honesty. in their limitations and 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 fear 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 work 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 the instance the biggest obstacle to to freedom. 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 i don't call them. here not international or a fresh push for independence serious. international peace conference on syria as they continue their quest to set up a nation that's a lot of stories coming your way.

not all argued. for the abolition of these kinds of agencies to interfere in the internal affairs of foreign nations i think it's counterproductive i think we create more enemies than we do friends when we involve ourselves in these so-called color coded revolutions many of them have been overturned since the united states was some bros engaged in them i would say if the common turn has been shut down then they ought to shut down some of these agencies in the united states.

a serious kurdish minority wants a seat at next month's international peace conference in geneva pushing for autonomy in northern syria and been fighting to protect the homes from radical islamist rebels where the kurds of the largest ethnic group without a country in the. middle east and are mostly spread out across the region that they call kurdistan they make up key minority groups in turkey syria iraq and iran with a total population estimated at around forty million and as artie's paul asli reports the kurds have their sights firmly set on long awaited independence. discriminated repressed and divided for years the kurds were the scapegoats of the

middle east look now the fortunes have turned resilient and hopeful history is on their side for four thousand years kurds lived in iraq now they're enjoying defect autonomy and many believe independence is not far away but is now practical is not run by a powerful state in baghdad and strongly believe that we are moving towards. a full independent kurdish state in the north of here 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 and her side but. 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 the 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 village of pursuit fina forty

five kilometers from aleppo so 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 abilities than before if they attack us we are ready to defend ourselves but 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 diaspora has capitalize on the power to struggle power struggle to the fullest. because syria was emboldened

by the fact that the arab spring came about of the regional powers busy with internal strife with. the stability of the government while the. different factions syria fighting each other and the governments we could. have found an opportunity to. grab to whatever they were territory. historically to take he's not very happy because what he sees if the. the because in syria get hold of them 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. time now for more world news in briefly this than at least eight people have been killed

in a double bombing in iraq the two explosions struck a stock market in a town north of the capital baghdad on the victims are being buried under 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 has reached levels not seen since two thousand and eight and r.t. dot com we've got a special project looking back at how the twenty thirty has on record. gyptian police in cairo and have curbed a series of protests were to gas clashes started when crowds of supporters of the president mohamed morsi took to the streets after friday prayers the gatherings took place in defiance of a controversial law restricting rallies in violence and many times across egypt leading to numerous arrests. the mayor of a town in a turbulent air of southern philippines is being along with two other members of his family port. a fourth person was shot waiting for

a car outside the terminal when the assailants one of them reportedly wearing a police uniform opened fire the motive for the killing is unclear so far. checks are being conducted on theaters across london's west end after a ceiling collapsed at the historic apollo theater on thursday at least eighty eight people were hurt when a section of the century old plaster ceiling fell on to the seven hundred twenty thirty goes. some reports suggest cracks in the roof that allowed water to drip through and when is it due to conduct a structural assessment of the whole building. european union's long term credit rating has been dealt a blow standard and poor's downgraded it from aaa to double a plus this is despite our recent signs of recovery being used in this example that the block is going in the right direction result is tesler 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 carlos wants

him to be are you sugar company debit 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 grab a surface to look around you'll see a lot of these boarded up houses or flop fronts or for sale signs a shadow of what this south used to be this is the center of. it for you peter your. history here. well 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 effectively of immigration in the country and now it is back growing sectors of this economy which are importing workers from outside of violence on friday just with high skills and so forth

completely deserve it gandalf but that is starting to get all these and little bit of a tension within the population as well the european commission statistics office figures show thirty five thousand more people left arland 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 that. i believe. said we want. you. to sleep 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 it wasn't anything. sort of keeping me here besides. immediate family really all my friends who go on it's a londoner canada they're just complete the world so i made

a very easy and while the holidays draw back the irish to their native land it will take more than a bailout exit to keep them home just are still your r.t. . top story this hour after a decade of incarceration mikhail khodorkovsky is free russia's most high profile prisoner left jail and travel to germany on board a private jet let's get the latest now from marty's piece of a he is in so germany really has been involved an awful lot in this by the looks of things peter tell us more about its involvement. it has indeed well what we've seen is the former foreign minister here hans dietrich genscher he was instrumental in making sure this. ended up here and now the very latest that we do have is the we've heard from him self now he he made

a phone call to a newspaper in russia at the new times in which he describes an indescribable feeling of freedom that it was all about freedom from now enough to ten years it was it was amazing to be a free man now he is we understand in the hotel hours along which is an upper class hotel very close to the studios where we are now only the brandenburg gate now he arrived here in germany on a. private jet that was organized by the former foreign secretary. and speaking in a open letter to his spokesperson spokespeople mr corbett mr mr. said that he wanted now to spend time with his family so we are expecting to see his family arrive from where they are some in moscow some in new york here to berlin he said he wants to spend the holidays with them it was all about being being free from prison and spending time with his family right now peter thanks very much indeed for that live update there from berlin artie's peter all of our. this is also international more news for in just over half an hour from now in the

meantime it is sophia and that's after the break stay with us for that. the parliament of yemen has put forward a motion to ban drone attacks in the country the motion is now waiting 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 make sure yemen doesn't have a ton of cash and i could see how having the well equipped and funded us military to take care of the al qaeda problem for them for free could be really entice and 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 or the good old rifles and bayonets pointed at the right targets but that's just my opinion. hello welcome to safely and kill i'm said sharing not say a picture in ukraine is murky where costs are compete with alina. question the u.s. has already said it's ready to support those protesting the government's rejection

of integration with the e.u. is this the norm or systemic ever in american foreign policy. for decades america has been the leader of the world. after years of complacency crises and expensive wars is it struggling to maintain its position with so much broken at home is it worth the effort of trying to fix things abroad is the privilege of being the world's sole superpower slowed becoming a dangerous burden. that our guest today is legendary politician pat buchanan a center advisor to three american presidents who was once a candidate for the top job himself mr mccann and it's such a pleasure to have you on our show tonight welcome delighted to be here sophie so why does the start will latest news john mccain promise to support ukrainians in their political stand against

a government is that helpful for ukraine well my feeling is that senator mccain whom i respect i had no business in the ukraine this is a decision by the ukrainian people and ukrainian government as to whether they want to orient toward the russian customs union or toward the european economic union and i don't think that's an issue in which the united states has any right to be involved it's a decision for the ukrainians as i said and senator mccain being there would be a little bit like president putin being in canada during the nafta debate and telling the canadians not to sign so i think the ukrainian should make this decision themselves you know there are talks about sanctions to us could use against ukrainian government what are they is that action warranted. i don't take any action against ukraine is warranted no matter what decision it may and this is

a decision again for the ukrainian government and the ukrainian people it has nothing to do with the vital interests of the united states and i would be opposed to my own government my own country imposing sanctions on the ukrainian government in people for decision which is their sovereign right so and i don't think the congress of the united states would would go along with sanctions i find that hard to believe you know like you said this is a choice that ukrainian people should make themselves and there is no one opinion on what path ukraine should choose in your opinion what do you think can help them figure things out at this point where i think the ukrainians are to decide what really is in their own best interest i know a bit about the ukraine i was there and back in nineteen way back in the nixon administration before richard nixon in one nine hundred seventy one and i know that the eastern ukraine for example is very much oriented.