former russian tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky is getting ready to meet the press after finally being reunited with his family in following his surprise release from prison. also this week eighty civilians are executed by islamist rebels in syria while western nations signal upcoming peace talks might not need a sad removal after all. and a big deal for ukraine russia agrees to buy fifteen billion dollars of its debt and slash the price of gas which kiev hails as its rescue from bankruptcy. i. know that you're watching a weekly here on r.t.

international now in a few hours time a chaotic of ski is set to give his first press conference since he was released from jail after ten years behind bars the man who was russia's most high profile prisoner is now in berlin where he was reunited with his parents and on saturday well let's go live now to the german capital and speak to artie's peter oliver. the hotel where he's staying for a number of hours apart from his close friends and families anyone caught a glimpse of him. well those that have been in to see him are few and far between has been really a select group that's been able to sit down and meet with mikhail khodorkovsky while he's been in the hotel out a lot in central perlin but later today later on sunday he's going to be holding a press conference where he'll meet the world's media and outline perhaps what he's going to be doing next it is expected that press conference that he'll he'll thank those that supported him for the years that he was in prison also we expect

a big thanks to the former german foreign minister hans dietrich genscher who it seems was instrumental in bringing him here to berlin to put on the the private jet which flew him to germany also it seems helped with pushing through a visa that would allow him to move within the sort of the most of the countries within the e.u. he pushed that visa through very very quickly in order to allow. you to come here to germany on saturday the one of those groups of people that were allowed in to see him and did get in to see him his family his son powerful and made the flight from new york in order to to be at his father's side and a little later on saturday afternoon we saw his mother and father his father boris and his mother. coming here to be with their son now it what must have been a emotional reunion we can only imagine what it was like but they both his son pavel and his mother marina spoke to r.t. and told us

a little bit what it was like getting to see because what of course he free for the first time in ten years. it's such a shock to me i just can't believe i'm going to see him now i feel like it's one of my regular meetings. here and through an interview today because it's free. my family used to go with it and we're very worried that we would be beat. well where a saturday was very much a day for the family sunday well he's going to be meeting the press and we're all looking forward to seeing what he has to say in eagerly anticipated press conference will be taking place at the berlin wall museum here in the german capital perhaps symbolic of the changes in. life if people might be curious peter as to why he's in berlin at the moment the media he has only been released for a couple of days can you explain to us briefly the sort of the run up to this.

well it's really been a whirlwind of a story from starting on thursday after a. after the long press briefing from putin he. as he was leaving the auditorium said yes he confirmed that among those that would be receiving presidential pardons was mikhail khodorkovsky this set. in motion we saw for respondants going to the prison camp where. he was being held the most recent compete being held in a but we didn't know where he was going to go it seemed on friday that he was perhaps going to moscow was he going to say petersburg then it all came out that he was flying here to lynn now as i mentioned it seems that the former foreign minister of germany. has been instrumental in that decision to bring him the people the coax in motion to allow him to come here to germany. you know we also saw columns from the german government spokesperson told praising the work that the the

german government are done behind the scenes in order to get him to get him to come to germany but in terms of his status as a citizen we heard from. from the spokesperson for blood in me a putin that. remains a russian citizen and that he's welcome in free to live in russia return to russia whenever he would choose to and in a one of the few interviews he has given me khodorkovsky has hinted that he would and could possibly return to russia some point so all of these things coming we didn't know where he was going to be when he came here to pearl in it was presumed he would always go to be out alone hotel it was the the place he stayed the last time he was here in berlin in two thousand and three it's the market hotel just it's a the brandenburg gate here but it wasn't until we started seeing his family arriving here we saw his son pavel speaking outside of the hotel we knew for certain that he was definitely inside there so. it's really been

a story that's moved along it's such a pace for us not really knowing. that well on thursday when. he would be released or here we are on sunday and he's been released he's left russia and he's now here in everything moving a lot of quite a pace and is still a long way for it to go yet so is plenty more information to come out once we hear from article skee as he speaks at this press conference later and sunday it will be really fascinating to see what he has to say thank you very much peter peter all of a life from the early. well political analyst an expert on russian german relations alexander was one of the first to greet me on german soil here's what he told us his face didn't change in the past ten years i haven't seen him for ten years. i think he didn't lose his humor he's still in a very strong mood and alexander was invited by the former

german foreign minister hans decent genscher to consult him in his push to release holder called skate rod isn't think the oil magnate will involve himself in politics in the future but if he does foreign affairs analyst martin says he has little chance of becoming as powerful as he was in the one nine hundred ninety s. what is not going to happen is that khodorkovsky is going to be a credible figure in russia he will significant the nine hundred ninety s. because of the twenty first century for two reasons first of all because of his vast financial wealth and political clout from putting together you cosyn the first place and he doesn't have to cause conglomerates as they said in war so that's cool and secondly he was a figure from the ninety nine he was so much well i was the all the guards in the chaotic yeltsin era right after the collapse of communism this is no interest rate

in russia. and just to let you know hold a cough ski's press conference will be held at twelve g.m.t. in berlin and of course we will be covering it live on air and online as well. at least eighty civilians including women and children have been slaughtered in the syrian town of north of damascus after it was raided by radical islamists some reports put the number of those killed as high as two hundred. channel went there to talk to you eyewitnesses of the bloodshed terror still fills the hearts of those who witnessed the militants entering the town about they saw disoriented running for their lives and they ran themselves they will never forget the despair in the eyes of those who were forced to stay behind we have no reliable way to communicate with people trapped inside out but officials are saying the atrocities against the civilian population are continuing to help people who are being tortured and even burned alive and every bit of news coming out of the town is doing

a new blow to those whose families are still being held by the militants everyone working for the local authorities was to be killed regardless of their religion organ aman ational they were all taken to be killed they took everyone even those who supported neither the government nor the rebels they were all i did tortured or killed or used as human shields the things being done in a drawer unthinkable they're slaughtering children and throwing them out of windows and no one's doing anything about it the syrian authorities say they have evidence confirming that massacres have taken place and address sadat and latakia and many other areas which remain under the control of the armed opposition the situation in syria has now deteriorated to the point that international norms of combat are no longer being observed. but. these are new there are several towns with a lot of the us residents working both in the private sector and for government agencies were flying crying must have been committed to. the houses were so don't

fire without people trying. to find the syrian army which is a position just outside the town that continues to carry out surgical strikes as part of their effort to liberate outre which is now the only hold up of the families are waiting for numerous other loved ones inside the town. r.t. meanwhile western powers have indicated next month's peace talks in geneva may no longer call for assad's removal that a made if it is extremists will take control of the country should his government for the u.s. says it's willing to meet with members of the newly formed islamic front group which is also said to have been involved in the bloodshed in address we spoke to a geo political analyst who believes there is no peace looming as long as the u.s. continues to support these lamaists. in recent weeks there's been an important shift in the relationship between the united states government on the one hand and

what is now being presented as the new islamic front and we see that the united states is in fact goes and establishing a dialogue with the leaders of these terrorist organizations i should say that in this particular case the people who have dialogue with the terrorists they have blood on their hands they have provided funding most of the military and logistical financial aid has been china holds to these al qaeda affiliated organizations and that's what we have to address there can be no peace as long as the west military alliance so calls to terrorists. now as if fracking linked earthquakes were bad enough. you can't say i didn't hear it all. very good where you meet the texans living in the shadow of

a shale well whose drinking water has started to move got the story in a few minutes. president putin held his annual marathon q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four hours and barred by dozens of questions he shared his thoughts on intelligence leaks the controversial greenpeace case and tensions in ukraine article piece going off was there. they've never met personally but it's revolutions surely made an impact on the world. answering a question about edward snowden the president didn't reveal his exact whereabouts but he couldn't resist humoring his all relationship with barack obama and u.s. surveillance tactics. you want to know how my feel about mr obama after snowden's leaks i feel jealous i feel jealous because he can do these things and get off scot free still there is nothing to be happy about but on the other hand there's no

reason to be frustrated however tough the criticism against the us may be all these measures have always been aimed at tackling terrorism but there must be some clear rules and certain agreements including those of ethics. ukraine was also discussed that actually said it right from the last few weeks with mass protest in favor of against moving closer with the e.u. moscow is giving kiev a fifteen billion dollar loan to help to cope with severe economic problems and according to putin integration is not the core reason behind the wave of unrest. and those who are pushing forward the idea of signing an association agreement with the european union these people would governing ukraine not so long ago. it was a foreign minister also headed the parliament to machinegun is a former prime minister you schenker was ukraine's president why didn't they sign these papers when they were in power no one was standing in their way they could have gone ahead and sign them and there'd be no problem today and i have legitimate now is that the current protests are about moving closer to the e.u.

it's an internal political struggle and signing or not signing this document is just a pretext for. the current amnesty which should affect up to twenty five thousand people coincides with the twentieth anniversary of russia scots jewish and members of pussy riot and review sacked of us from the so called heart attacks thirty are expected to benefit so obviously as we've also mentioned including the president's stance on the organization itself. their ship it entered our exclusive economic zone was not responding and they tried to scale the platform and after an attempt to stop them their second boat started ramming our border guards is that a civil discussion about protecting the environment. it's just self p.r. or an attempt at blackmail racketeering or someone's order to disturb our work on developing resources that will happen should serve as a lesson and unite us along with greenpeace into an effort to minimize

environmental risks instead of just making a fuss. of course these are only a few topics touched upon which also talked about recent diplomatic breakthroughs like the syrian chemical arms deal and the iranian nuclear program the conference was attended by over thirteen hundred journalists and last it over four hours off r t moscow. while the opposition in ukraine may chant pray. but would they be welcome should the u.s. integration take place coming up we look at the more extreme side of the ukrainian opposition. largest consumer of the season i take with me in the country is the federal

government to simply say the property of the united states government. is the united states' number damage and it was done troubling us to realize it can't just by. just throw it away there's a problem for instance belongs to you know those thieves environmental protection agency and i found this on a dump site here this here is not the way the. producers of these little i have to should be able to collect these i believe that they should be responsible for their products from criminal to break. from mexico comment of mental health property will sell to murder incorporated it also belongs to the washington metro area transit authority. property will be. improved my. eye.

color and now ukraine could still sign a trade deal with the you next year although on better conditions that was the announcement this week from the country's prime minister meanwhile the opposition has accused president yannick overreach of pulling the country's assets to win concessions from russia artie's elect ski takes a closer look now at who is leading the opposition movement in ukraine. an offer of support for ukraine z u s gratian it was not enough to persuade one of the country's opposition leaders elected a new book drop shoulders with the german foreign minister during his surprise appearance at the protests in kiev mr westerly is openly gay and they have to book sponsors for border has made its position on homosexuals quite clear attacking gay parades to move us to but we want to build a country based on harmony and social justice issues were being dragged into homosexuals values by the western states and we will not allow advance but homosexuals and people of different races are clearly not terribly books biggest

foes what you want any treaty with russia is not worth the paper it was signed on. to the books forwards do not make up the core of the protest movement but there are clearly it's just voices and it's actions as well as words and the sort of the city hall and scuffles around it. the ones that you see of an event described as the full of the tyrants by the party and reckless vandalism by you know there's this is a crack in the pavement where the toppled lenin monument literally lost its head and if you walk around the pedestal of what used to be the monument to the former soviet leader we can see some graffiti over here first one he says which you're next and the one at the bottom says glory to the insurgent army of the 1940's in ukraine which some in this country believe to be freedom fighters who fought for independence while many others described as nazi collaborators on top of that and no militant field commanders believe were spotted at my down a man who fought as

a mercenary in creation and south of setia in all cases against the russians. until the end of my days i will kill russians jews that got me this british reporter brian flynn had a first hand glance at the militarized right wing forces in ukraine had over the you were twenty twelve football championships you went undercover into their training camp these are people very serious about what they do they train physically to back it up with violence and i watched what they followed live weapons in the presence of such people among the broadcasting crowd seems to cause no concern among european officials your people in the same way. which is rather extraordinary isn't it to see somebody that the united states has banned from entering the country on the same platform for mccain to see somebody who's been by and by the us a friend to semitic statements for denying the holocaust who supporters actually in the streets of kiev still do make anti-semitic as well as anti russian. gestures

and translate and it does signify that the west and politicians are quite happy to use nationalist forces when it suits them that lack of reaction is particularly bewildering given maybe european statements about ukraine's right wing factions in the past and the burning over ukrainian football ground for now the slogans in this stance so if you create does make it into the view some day it will be interesting to see how people with such different values sit at the same negotiating table. let's yourselves t.r.t. reporting from the ukraine. to have a look at our website where you get the chance there's a plenty of interesting things on may to including breaking radioactive records is huge amounts of beat or a missing substance is discovered at the crippled fukushima power plant in japan on line we weigh the risks of toxic leaks into the ocean plant and they will be christmas in all but a space suit issue delays a second vital space walk to fix

a faulty cooling system you can check out all the details at our dog. this week a group of researchers claims to found another risk the fracking poses to human health they say the chemicals used can disrupt hormones and have been detected in the colorado river locals living near these sites already claim their property prices have timed while rank smells and earthquakes plague their daily lives and that's not all. explains. the local government in texas tells steve lipski that the water from his well what of that he can set on fire is safe to drink and to use in his home. you can hear it in here. thank you but steve has the assessment of other experts who say he's well is it ticking bomb in his backyard loaded with methane and other contaminants why the starkly

different assessments steve claims that a fracking operation nearby contaminated is well and that texas energy authorities are shielding the gas company. they don't want the world to know that it really is this bad they don't want it in official documents it could be that the fracking allowed gas from lower formations into the aquifer and subsequently into steve lipski as well the gas company denies the claim the lips sued the range resources corp but the firm counter sued and won. in cause and effect evidence a ground water is incredibly difficult to prove my d.s.l. us are is an engineer who worked with the federal environmental protection agency is not surprised that the state oil and gas regulator sided with the gas corp concede that the rights seen come in survival

from oil and gas production. issue usually put him in charge of also regulating the protection of groundwater from going down swells and there's any parent conflict of interest that determined to fight for his home father of three steve has been shipping fresh water from the city on trucks at a cost of five hundred dollars a month but the family now faces another blow from the fracking corporation of four point two million dollars lawsuit for defamation steve lipski is dream house and it's a beautiful property has become his nightmare several of his neighbors apparently have the same problem but they're reluctant to speak out after they saw how the gas company went after mr lipski they shouldn't expect much help from washington either this is the first time adios a lasar says the environmental protection agency has not put nearly enough resources into studying the effects that fracking has on groundwater but that

didn't stop the p.a. from coming up with a reporting favor of the practice. believes his word vice to vent the gas costs and to keep it from accumulating on their property or as their neighboring gas wells continues to frack it's five thousand feet do you pretty much standing around on top of the one hundred years from now when somebody dies because there's some timing on the border and they're able to trace it to this fracking everybody else is to it who cares invest in a few last three do it but now it seems that the authorities at all levels are so fired up on fracking is potential profits that households like steve leaves his family are left to fight alone to get a healthy environment in their homes. to check on our team parker county texas. meanwhile a new energy boom may be coming to the british countryside but so far it's been

given a far from warm welcome a government report has laid the groundwork to open up vast swathes of the u.k. for oil exploration including shale gas drilling the light blue on this map shows you how much land has been earmarked for potential fracking well the u.k.'s energy minister has hailed this report is the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential but his friends of the earth have a minute old us it's time to stop before it's too late we've only had a handful of exploratory drilling sites across the u.k. but already we've seen huge local opposition whether it's been in the south east of ireland or the northwest where we're seeing it now and i think with the government's new licensing round which is going to open up another two thirds of the country to have potentially to fracking we're going to see even more position and i think the government is going to have to put a moratorium in place like it had done previously and actually listen to the concerns of communities because there's a very loud and clear message. some international news in brief

a suicide car bombing at an army base in eastern libya has left at least six people dead and injured more than fifteen it's reported that all those killed in the explosions were soldiers no group has yet claimed responsibility. for i in germany reports say over one hundred policemen have been injured as they clashed with protesters thousands took to the streets for oppose the march to be the sporting hamburg objects were hurled at police who responded with forty pounds the building has been occupied for more than twenty years before it is claimed its risk of collapsing i next toxic technology the terra blight film exploring the hazardous legacy of computers thrown out with the rubbish.

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 be fair yemen doesn't have a ton of cash and i could see how having the well equipped and funded us 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 or the good old rifles and bayonets pointed at the right targets but that's just my opinion. from my time of the. moment the long history of this group of ours and only a day in the history of mankind has man made any significant advantage. over his or the environment. more than any other of man. when you've been with less than a million of a second in. command three i'm already given chroma.

you know a way of life and way of thinking. oh . no this isn't true said girl if you are used to common good to men we. let you smoke. you can run you run signoff you. will find out the wall from the ground for a bit. i. just want to live on this if you slow down from the ground source and sit down. you. know as the dumber grow bugs removed the if you. don't know.

what the first time i saw one with the song go area where we were going for after school study us as soon as we finish studying we'd go and play with the computer but there were many things we can do on the computer games educational games and so on. and what i'm trying to say is that the computer broadens your horizon. is just dumping nobody want them in the bucket in your opening night estates so they find a way to.