he's not interested in politics. radical islamist rebels in syria. in the suburbs of the capital damascus. government protests. as ukraine secures a fifteen billion dollars economic rescue deal from russia. on the back of the top stories and the. international.

says he has no interest in politics or being involved in business he's been holding his first major news conference since being released from after. reports now from. during that time while he was speaking to journalists he expressed his gratitude to those who had supported him throughout the years that he was in prison and expressed his gratitude to those that it helped him and once he'd been released he paid specific gratitude to the german off for a season to form a general in german foreign minister hun genscher who provided him who helped him to get a private jet out of russia and helped him with of be that that he obtained here and now with regards to his political future he was peppered with questions about math and missed the holocaust and this is say. i am at the retool to germany and german politicians for playing

a role in my thing the last thing i want is any problems as a result of peace you mean concerns for the people and country which i'm thankful to that is if that's it with that so far i've been assured that there are no such a problem as a school choice i'm not planning to be involved in politics which i've already made clear in my letter to president putin and confirmed many times i'm going to devote myself to social issues the struggle for power is just not for me appearing carmen in a smart blue sooty fielded questions from a a whole host of journalists packed into the burly and wall museum just not too far from where i hammer i am right here in central and in amongst those questions he did appeal for some kind of privacy for him and his family. said that he didn't have any concrete plans to exactly what he would be doing right now be time line it's seen him come here has been such has moved at such a whirlwind pace from where he was told apparently it to in the morning his time in

the penal colony our penal colony on friday morning in russia that he would be set free. it's all moved at such a pace that saw him arrive here in germany just delivered that first press conference to speak to the the world's media in tell him how he feels and basically he's saying that he needs a little bit of time to readjust to life outside and pay thanks to everybody who helped him along the way. so khodorkovsky has led a life of extremes going from one of russia's and indeed the world's richest men to a high profile criminal let's recall how he ended up in jail back and became chairman and c.e.o. of the private corporation new course which produced a fifth of russia's oil within six and a half years he's one of the country's richest men he was arrested on fraud charges around the same time linked to be privatized nation of state assets now it was eventually found guilty in may two thousand and five and given nine years in prison

and appeals or a year knocked off that sentence then in december two thousand and six there was a second case and he was charged with embezzling three hundred fifty million tonnes of oil he was found guilty again and given a fourteen year sentence but the court counted time already served with all of this brings us to this week which saw president putin pardon called kosky ahead of his release on friday and he was waiting to be let out next august but russia's president made the surprise announcement of his pardon on thursday decision was made on humanitarian grounds after a court across his letter to putin describing his mother's ailing health he then flew to berlin and met his entire family while the media camped outside the five star hotel where he's staying legal expert and blogger alexander mccurry believes western attention on this story is out of all proportion. in any conflict between the russian government and a businessman start the axis the reflex response of the western media is to support the businessman beyond that of course mr holocaust he had lots

of people involved in his businesses from abroad in foreign investors all sorts of people about crime he was the he was russia's richest man and he had connections with the united states connection to germany and of course mr holder because he ran a full mentally effective public relations machine he had lawyers all over the place spokesmen all over the place who became involved in spinning his story despite the fact that it's not just the russian courts that have said that he's guilty of that people consistently over look the european court of human rights has repeatedly said that he's guilty as well but that never seems to get reported on of course across his former employees he was convicted of life in prison for murder is alexy peukan he was found guilty of ordering the murder of a mare of a siberian town who was in a dispute with you course over tax the freeform oil tycoon mentioned that you can

when describing how he will fight for the release of political prisoners in russia but political commentator alexander there cast off told us that these sentiments are inconsistent. khodarkovsky mentioned. enough and some others later simply because he has his own understanding of all the judicial process works and what people should be required responsible for or not and if you have a court finding a person guilty of murder i think it's very difficult for anyone to then say well he's guilty but he's not actually guilty because he's a political prisoner i find it quite order truly a lot find it all so all in one sentence somebody says that he's not going to be involved in politics and basically in the same press conference says well yes but i will be involved in filming the political prisoners in russia and they'll be plenty more news on mikhail khodorkovsky throughout the day with analysis both

here in r.t. and on a website r.t. dot com. other news now here in r.t. international a suicide bomb attack on a primary school in syria has reportedly killed several children is the latest atrocity of the dozens of civilians were massacred earlier this week by radical islamist rebels government forces expose the killings after taking back parts of the town of address on his arabic channel went there to talk to eyewitnesses. terror still fills the hearts of those who witnessed the militants entering the town of they saw panic 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 address 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 dealing 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 syrian authorities say they have evidence confirming that massacres have taken place and address the dad taqiyya 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 these residents working both in the private sector and for government agencies horrifying crying as have been committed in this town houses who are set on fire with people trapped inside and. the syrian army which is positioned 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. well western powers indicated next month's peace talks in geneva may no longer involved calls for assad to be removed from power is fear extremists could take control of the country if his government falls while washington says it is willing to meet members of the newly formed islamic front group which is implicated in that bloodshed and drug we spoke with an advisor to the u.s. congress who warns extremists cannot be trusted or first of all it would be a strategic mistake if the us administration or europe or their allies would be engaging in a partnership and a partnership meaning they would be collaborating with organizations that are the

hardest and have not committed to become moderates or recognize the fact that if they come to power or part of power they will recognize human rights that did not happen that would be a mistake of the size that was done in afghanistan and maybe done again with the taliban next year number two if the united states will engage or has engage some of these organizations probably in the goal of a very tactical engagement to make sure that those forces are not going to bring more foreign forces from the outside including al qaida but again i'm very skeptical so we have to have a better strategy to engage with the more moderates with the seculars and also with the minorities that exists in syria today. i mean want to keep syrian minority groups looking to capitalize on the chaos there the kurds have taken up arms to fight for money and are demanding a seat at next month's international peace conference all the details in just a few minutes plus. if

you come here to. think it apparently few people would but these aren't pictures of a magic trick but something that makes ordinary texans who live near fracking sites think twice before turning on the tap at home more on that shortly here on r.t. internet. president putin held his annual q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four hours bothered by dozens of questions he shared his thoughts on the hottest topics of the past year and. was that. they've never met personally but his revelations surely made an impact on the world. serious 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 set it right from the last few weeks with mass protest both in favor of and against moving closer with the e.u. moscow is giving kiev a fifteen billion dollar loan to help because of severe economic problems and according to putin. 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 govern in ukraine not so long ago you get to knew it was a thorn minister also headed the parliament to machinegun is a former prime minister you shankill with ukraine's president there was no 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 it would be no problem today i have legitimacy now as a current protester about moving closer to the e.u. you know it's an internal political struggle and signing or not signing this document is just a pretext to 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 is also mentioned including the president's stance on the organization itself. their ship had entered our exclusive economic zone was not responding and they tried to scale the platform 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 do 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 lasted over four hours off r t moscow. meanwhile rallies go on in ukraine despite assurances from the government the country still plans to meet closer to a new we've got a report coming up from central kiev that's just ahead on r.t. international. i'm.

largest consumer of the seas and i see it with me in the country is the federal government to simply say the property of the united states government. is the united states somebody literally was calling us to realize they can just by. you know just throw it away there's a problem for instance belongs to the united states environmental protection agency and i found this on a dump site here this year it's not a waste of. my producers of these little i think should be able to collect these i believe that they should be responsible for their products from cradle to grave. to mexico department of mental health property will sell to murder incorporated it also belongs to the washington metro area transit authority to. properties are big states pretend and trademarks all.

infertility birth defects and cancer all potential side effects of chemicals found this week near fracking wells in colorado scientists claim they also discovered substances capable of disrupting hormones but u.s. companies are pushing ahead with their exploration and as governor she can report residents living near wells have almost no allies in the struggle for a safe neighborhood the local government in texas tells steve lipski that the water from his well water 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 a 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 to have it and see groundwater 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 corporation conceit that the rights it seen come in survival. from oil and gas production issues surely put him in charge

of also regulating the protection of groundwater from ongoing drought swells and there's an inherent 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 a four point two million dollar lawsuit for defamation steve lipski 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 kids were advised to vent the gas constantly to keep it from accumulating under their property as their neighboring gas well continues to frac slide thousand feet deep we're pretty much standing around the 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 frack him and we've got the office ted who cares invest in a few last three for now it seems that the authorities at all levels are so fired up on fracking potential profits that households like steve leave his family are left to fight alone to get a healthy environment in their homes. down our t. parker county texas. meanwhile a new energy boom heading for the british countryside is yet to receive a warm welcome a government report has laid the groundwork to open up vos swathes of the u.k.

to oil exploration including show gas drilling the light blue on this map shows just how much land has been marked throughout the country where the u.k.'s energy minister has hailed this report as the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential but friends of the earth helen rimmer believes 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 southeast 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. saudi arabia and its eastern neighbors team up to let the gulf know who is boss as we report on our web sites the countries are creating a joint force of about one hundred thousand combat troops i don't want to know why

they are making a show. a u.s. journalist who has access to edward snowden's documents says he's got four alarm systems in his book. to keep the secret safe but that wasn't enough to prevent intrusions we'll details on that right now. braving the elements in order to. see us oil giants chevron. this comes after a massive hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the place. the gulag of our time. is an undeclared global battlefield in which yemen is just one of the front lines. of.

ukraine could still move closer to the e.u. next year of the bloc sweetens the trade and association deal that announcement from the country's prime minister still didn't appease the protestors in central kiev crowds of once again gathered there as. reports. tens of thousands are back in the streets of ukraine's capital kiev to protest on this sunny day that's after several days of relative calm and that you would be suspicious on the ground here that the protests in the depended square may dispersed by itself sooner or later obviously today is the prove that this would not happen at least in the nearest future in fact we've heard from the opposition talking from the state that they're planning to keep the protest alive at least until january the twelfth they're definitely planning to spend the new year's eve at the independence square so this is a clear indication the anti-government protests would be lasting for some time here in ukraine this week represented something of

a turnaround for ukraine at least economically with the article which president is going to moscow and signing several agreements with russia particularly gaining fifteen billion dollar bill in the ukrainian eurobonds as well as receiving a much coveted discount for the russian gas almost one hundred thirty dollars per month discounted still despite many experts saying that this would help the this would greatly help ukrainian economy which has been suffering and ailing and pretty much in a pretty fault state this would help it to survive at least until the next six seven months the opposition is not happy they're describing it as a sellout of the country and they are unwilling to keep protesting as long as it takes to have the government resign and the president to step down. syria's could say they want an independent seated next month's international peace conference in geneva they say their interests in opposition to both the syrian government and the rebels the kurds are pushing for ptolemy in northern syria where they've been fighting to protect their homes from radical islamist rebels now they have

a large as ethnic group without a country in the middle east and a mostly spread out across the region they call kurdistan now they make up key minority groups in turkey syria iraq and iran with a total population of approximately forty million and as reports they have their sights firmly set on 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'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 i 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 anchor side. long. 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 faced a toughest fight they were 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're 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 is that we're all in you know 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. . you'd be watching the weekly here not international next week continue explore the has a hazardous legacy of computers thrown out with the rubbish i'll be back with more after this in about often after. 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 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 or the good old rifles and bayonets pointed at the right targets but that's just my opinion. if you please do. in the future. we more

specifically our children and grandchildren. will be able to realize potentiality. we would like our own five hundred cool enable us to develop we shall have to find ways of training on how to enjoy the leisure that would presumably i'm going to have to really we're going to have in such a way that instead of being frustrating and making life. will enable us to engage. and creative activity. now if you're if you're going to play the same old game and it doesn't really matter there's a lot of people out there they almost refuse to upgrade but if you want to play all brand new games coming out. just to keep up i mean it's it's it's not. it's not anything you have to do. it's more just you know it's trying to keep up with the joneses

a lot of the times you know friend gets you know new video farther a bigger mama bear or something inside hey that's cool i want the. thing to remember when you're you know it's just make sure you get everything. and never fails there's always somebody gets for god. using the work to look up part so we can find her look like use google man have to find addresses of way to visit stress have a rough day on the road to get home or whatever or work and come home blow something up at a video game and nothing gets harmed and i feel a little better. yes

we turn the computer on a new select the game you want to play when you kill the killer the game allows you to go to the next level you kill the killer again you go to the next level and so on. we always try to retain the fighting techniques in the video games later on a football field we imitate the technique among ourselves. just move over this way . and i move around this way and when there's an attempt to throw a punch at me i step aside throw upon.