former russian tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky is getting ready to meet the press after finally being reunited with his family following his surprise release from prison and. also this week a few civilians are executed by islamist rebels in syria while western nations signal coming pace talks might not need to removal are droll. and a big long deal for ukraine russia agrees to buy fifteen billion dollars of its debt and slash the price of gas which we have. from bankruptcy.

are you watching a weekly here on our international. now if you ask me how to set he gave his first press conference since he was released from jail after ten years behind bars the man he was russia's most high profile prisoner is now in berlin where he was reunited with his parents and on saturday peter all of us is following events 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 we 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 on saturday though 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 to be with their son now it what must have been a emotional reunion it's such a shock to me i still can't believe i'm going to see him now i feel like it's one of my regular visits. here in germany today because. it's really. my family is by going to go with it and we're very very happy with me but you know it's really been a whirlwind of a story from starting on thursday after a long press briefing from amir 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 but we didn't know where he was going to go it then it all came out that he was flying here to berlin the former foreign minister of germany. has been instrumental in that decision to bring him the the

people the codes in motion to allow him to come here to germany to put on the private jet which flew. him to germany also it seems helped with pushing through a visa we also saw comments from the german government 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 prude 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 carlotta called ski has hinted that he would and could possibly return to russia. and that life press conference will be twelve g.m.t. and of course will be across that when it happens meanwhile political analyst an expert on russian german relations alexander r.

was one of the first to greet me on german soil is 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 alexander always invited by the former german foreign minister hans dietrich genscher to consult him in his push to release horticulture rar doesn't think the exile magnate will involve himself in politics in the future but if he does run affairs analyst martin says he has little chance of becoming as powerful as he was in one thousand 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 one 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 coast in the

first place and he doesn't have the yukos conglomerate as a base in war so that's gone and secondly it was a figure from the one nine hundred ninety s. he was able to. as the oligarchy in the chaotic yeltsin era right after the collapse of communism this is now ancient history in russia. 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 drugs they saw panicked disoriented people 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 the people trapped inside but officials are saying the atrocities against the civilian population are continuing people are being butchered 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 organon an asian they were all taken to be killed they took everyone even those who supported neither the government nor the rebels they were all either tortured 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 the dad 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. he's an industrial town with

a lot of the its residents working both in the private sector and for government urgencies horrifying crying must have been committed in this town houses who are said on fire with people trapped inside and. 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 address which is now the only hope of the families waiting for news of their loved ones inside the town. r.t. . meanwhile western powers have indicated next month's peace talks in geneva may no longer call for a sad removal and amid fears 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 law mists 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 no go c.a.t. 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 channeled 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 supports the terrorists. as if earthquakes were bad

enough. you can't say i didn't hear how much you drink it. we meet the texans living in the shadow of the shale well whose drinking water has started to burn we've got this story coming up in a few minutes time. president putin held his annual marathon q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four hours bombarded by dozens of questions he shared his thoughts on intelligence leaks the controversial greenpeace case and tensions in ukraine r.t. he called peace going off was that they'd 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 own relationship with barack obama and you are 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 the country said it rough in the last few weeks with a mass protest of off in favor off against moving closer with the e.u. moscow is giving kiev a fifteen billion dollar loan to help of course with severe economic problems and according to putin integration is not the core reason behind the wave of unrest. 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. 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 i have legitimate downs 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 like the current amnesty which should affect up to twenty five thousand people coincides with the twentieth anniversary of russia scots dushan members of pussy riot and greenpeace activists from the so-called arctic thirty are expected to benefit so obviously this issue was also mentioned including the president steps on the organization itself. through their ship it entered our exclusive economic zone was not responding and they tried to scale the platform after an attempt to stop them the 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 to blackmail racketeering or someone's order to disturb our work on

developing resources what happened should serve as a lesson and unite us along with greenpeace into an effort to minimize environmental risks instead of just making a fuss but. of course these are only a few topics touched upon which you 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 alas it over four hours you got pissed off r.t. moscow. meanwhile in ukraine opposition groups and kids independence square may echo each other's anger over the deal with russia but once the process with a unity looks a little less salted off for a short break we assess three faces of the country's opposition. millions around the globe struggle with hunger each good. what if someone offers

a lifetime food supply no charge. they can the very strong push against g.m.o. and we think that's. the genetic anymore the right products are priest. there is no. evidence any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese. free . enterprise is profit. for this golden rice.

again ukraine could still sign a try deal with the next year although i'm betting conditions that was the announcement this week from the country's prime minister the opposition is accused . of pulling the country's assets to win concessions from russia but as aussies. reports the rallying cry from united. he used to deliver hammer punches in the boxing ring and now he's given up his world champions belt to succeed in politics but old habits die hard but the ticklish call likes to use boxing language even in his politics his party's name is the ukrainian democratic alliance for reforms which abbreviates to the ward which translates as a punch. i call to victory in

a courtroom battle i make in my personal opponent. hearing the status of a living sports legend in ukraine klitschko made a rapid rise in politics with his party making it into parliament last year. as a politician of relatively mild views she raised many eyebrows when she nearly provoked a major brawl by directing the ngo fired up protestors at security officers during a rally. ukraine cannot be controlled like one controls the situation in the boxing ring that chaos is too big in the country now i like klitschko but you can't use force to change ukraine another card in the opposition pack is our sea needs a new x. foreign minister relatively young but experienced in politics he took the reins of former prime minister yulia timoshenko sparty when she was put in prison gets a new has been vocally advocating her release. in order to release.

the sect the government the. government the brazilian civil on this matter though not everyone is buying it should tymoshenko walk free his days at the summit of the greats politics will be numbered and last but not least i looked at the book the leader of the nationalists were the movement days migrants jews and particularly russians have been in his crosshairs all along. he wants to surrender us ukrainians to servitude to eternal slavery under moscow. new book supports your integration for ukraine but many say his values are incompatible with the european ones the western powers faith well anything will work if that if we can work with them together and elements and you radicals are ok i think it's a dangerous game i think it basically represents interference into ukraine's

affairs the european union is actually prepared to raise the stakes so cry in a european country on the fringes and basically risking a sort of a civil war in the sense riding the tide of you know my down and the troika of ukraine's opposition looks like a solid unit but appearances can be deceptive when the storm settles and the twenty fifteen presidential election draws closer the lack of a clear opposition front runner could play into a gonna call which is hands and these three men would hardly miss the chance to grab at each other's throats to be their one alexy russia ski r.t. reporting from key if in ukraine. thanks for watching us today but if you do get a chance check out our web site because we've got plenty of stuff on there too including breaking radioactive records huge amounts of beads or a misuse substances discovered the crippled fukushima power plant in japan online we waive the risks of toxic leaks into the ocean and now you are the christmas in

over a spacesuit issue delays the second vital space walk to fix a faulty cooling system you can check out all the details at r.t. dot com. this week a group of researchers claim to have found another risk of fracking poses to human health they say become a cause she's can disrupt hormones and have been detected in the colorado river locals living near the site already claim their property prices have tang's while rank spells and earthquakes plague their daily lives and that's not all. explains. the local government in texas tells lipski that the water from his well why did that he can set on fire is safe to drink and to use in his home. you can hear it in here how. to make it 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 lipski is 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 use of 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 the agency that derives its seen come in survival from oil and gas

production issues fully putting in charge of also regulating the protection of groundwater from going down swells and there's an even haren. conflict of interest in 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 lips they shouldn't expect much help from washington either why do you sell us our 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 e.p.a. from coming up with a report in favor of the practice. phillips kids were advised to vent the gas constantly to keep it from accumulating under their property as their neighboring gas well continues to frack this guy thousand feet do it pretty much the only run on top of the one hundred years from now when somebody dies because there's some time in the war and they're able to trace it to this frack him and everybody else instead who cares invest in a philosophy for now it seems that the authorities at all levels are so fired up on fracking potential profits that households like steve leaves his family are left to fight a low to get a healthy environment in their homes again a 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 shell gas drilling the light blue on this map shows how much land has been earmarked for potential fracking the u.k.'s energy minister has hailed this report as the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential but as friend of the friends of the earth helen rimmer told us it is time to stop before it's too light. we've only had one hundred full of exploratory drilling sites across the u.k. but already we've seen huge local opposition whether it's been in the southeast the mainland 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 potentially to fracking we're going to see even more opposition 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. it's not news in brief now 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 explosion were soldiers no group has yet claimed responsibility. i in germany reports say over one hundred policemen have been injured as they clashed with protesters thousands took to the streets to oppose the mass addiction of a squat in hamburg objects were holding police who responded with water cannons the building has been occupied for more than twenty years but authorities claim it is at risk of collapsing. in sudan rebel troops have seized the key oil producing state of unity taking control of much of the country former south sudan vice president has been accused of leading the group and attempting a coup meanwhile four people were injured people were injured when rebels opened

fire on a u.s. mission to evacuate american citizens from the region at least five hundred people have been killed since the fighting began as the government struggles to hold on to the capital. occupy romania civis have clashed with police in front of bucharest university it had started as a peaceful rally calling for the resignation of the president and the ban on fracking remaining has been engulfed in a wave of anger against the energy giant chevron which is planning to drill for natural gas across the country. there is not a killer or a terrorist but he's been held in conditions worse than if he was online activist and the alleged hacker got fried home wagner is one of the founders of the pirate bay he's engulfed in a complex legal battle accused by denmark of stealing millions of personal id numbers or the file sharing website first came under fire back in two thousand and

six when it got on the wrong side of hollywood it was taken down for several days when swedish police raided its headquarters seventy years later its founders were charged and eventually sentenced to a year in prison for encouraging copyright violations earlier r.t. spoke his father home wagner lawyer louise hoed who told us her client is treated much worse than is warranted by the charges against him. it's got a little bit better since we talked the last time he's been moved to a different facility. to be honest the first facility the first prison it couldn't really get anywhere and that so now he's an different facility and he's been allowed to. be with another inmate to talk to another inmate two hours per week but it's still not good he is allowed to go outside as well one hour every day. and during that hour he will you know by coincidence able to talk to other inmates he's

certainly not good at giving given the conditions that other in the same case would be given believes very cautious about this case they don't really want anything to go wrong because it's a very sensitive sensitive case in denmark still to come this hour why britain wants no money from the need to fund its food banks and how an egyptian teenager was arrested for bringing his ruler to school but right now it's artie's business venture capital. technology innovation all the developments around russia. the future of harvard. largest consumer of the season i'd say it would be in the country is the federal government to simply say it's property of the united states government. is

the united states' number to mention it was probably going to realize you can't just buy. your own just throw it away this equipment for instance belongs to the united states environmental protection agency and i found this on a dump site here this is the mirror it's not ways to lower the producers of these little i have to. look at these though i believe that this should be responsible for the products from cradle to grave. fatal from mexico harbor in a mental health proper jail cell to murdering a copper also belongs to the washington metro transit authority to the properties of a dentist aids patient and trademarks. you're

watching but count two with me katie paul we both went to a christmas show they are going to be joined by the one and i mean that's kind of his views on a bank is going to save a lot smallpox so i went to a toy store to find out what we've had is a doing to compete with the eco was food here in russia for practice all the way some fun stuff in fela's as well so use it with a couple bag knowable wanna share whatever is without the other one one of these missing out just a minute i'll say it was tell you about the mood bankers' bonuses already a topic of frustration at every station well that's set to almost double yeah managing directors at banks in london all set for a forty four percent rise in biases at least that's according to financial recruitment firm asked three miles down advice if we rewind back to barbara you remember the e.u. set up a law to control bank expenses but you kate. this i mean he had to be implemented it loved it now one who is always brutally frank about his views on this particular

topic yes i'm talking about the one and i mean max keiser from the cause report he joining me from london now say max despite all of the attempts to rein in the bank his bonuses they seem to be getting even bigger what is going on right now. where we've seen the past ten years or so innovation in central banking came in under used to be when the fed printed lots of money you'd see prices of wages consumer items and assets go up in value but under bernanke the there's been an innovation in central banking where they print money and they put it directly into the pockets of bankers so wages don't go up so it's a beautiful new world where the central banks simply hand over billions of dollars to their cronies in the banking system and wages never go up so this is the new world order i want to ask you is christmas and all of that if you have to buy your favorite banker jamie diamond a christmas present this year what would it be why i think if i could

give jamie diamond a present for christmas it would be syphilis so that he could experience firsthand what everyone around the world experiences with his day to day banking terrorism what about george osborne that what would he get from a. well for george osborne my first choice would be maybe a little polonium two maybe not bad aggressive something along the lines of. some form of walk from a fog off farm in france to kind of personify what's happening to the world banks are being stuffed with all this cheap cash and in the end are going to be harvested and his liver along with a bunch of ducks will be exempt take it out and sold on the open market right. at the j.p. morgan christmas party entertainment what would you do. for the christmas party entertainment j.p. morgan that's a good question i guess we have to.