for more oil tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky says he's not interested in politics or business at his first news conference after a decade behind bars we get live express an opinion from germany shortly. ago islam is rebels in syria legibly massacred dozens of civilians during a battle in the suburbs of the capital damascus. and crowds gather in central kiev planted government protests to brace for over a month as ukraine secures a fifteen billion dollars economic rescue deal from russia. back in the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the

weekly on. x. oil magnate. says he has no interest in pursuing politics or being involved in business he's been holding his first major news conference since being released from jail after ten years peter one of the reports now from but in. 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 so they helped him once he being released he paid specific gratitude to the german off overseas on to form a german foreign minister. who provided him who helped him to get a private jet out of russia and helped him with his visa that he obtained here and now with regards to his political future he was peppered with questions about the holocaust and this is saying you know that. i am grateful to germany and german politicians for playing a role in my fate. the last thing i want is any problems as

a result of these humane concerns for the people and country which i'm thankful to that you saw far i've been assured that there are no such problems 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 am right i am right here in central berkeley 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 b. timeline it's seeing him come here has been such has moved at such a whirlwind pace from when 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 to live at 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 well one of course of course his former employees who was convicted to life in prison for murder is alexy pick you can he was found guilty of ordering the murder of a man of a siberian turn who was in dispute with you course over tax the freed form a whole tycoon mentioned to put you can when describing how he'll fight for the release of political prisoners in russia a political commentator alexander the courts have told us that these sentiments are inconsistent. you mention. some others later simply because he has his own understanding of karl the judicial process works and what people

should be tickled to sponsible for a lot if you have a court finding a person guilty of murder i think it's very difficult for a new one to then say well he's guilty but he's not actually guilty because he is a political prisoner i find that quite orderly and i find that also 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 helping the political prisons in the russia before morning some joined by politicians who brunson from the euro skeptic alternative for germany party hugh reportedly a former german foreign minister met vladimir putin twice in the last two years to discuss khodorkovsky fate why is germany say we interested in this man it's a very good question and it's stiffish go to answer to be quite honest i see it as

a party political move has been on the sidelines for quite some time he is a look older politician. his party received a molding at the general election in september now of course he wants to bring the liberals a little democrat back in the news and might have been one of the reasons why he was so engaged now we can say all this happened before the general elections but. the true reasons for dot open to speculation i can only speculate with you icon provide an answer yeah and what do you make of these suggestions that let me put it was under pressure by the russian business community it was all about trade and economics. i find that hard to believe i don't think that the release of a single man would change the entire business scenario and putin is

a very powerful man he knows what he's doing i believe his decision to grant him pardon mr khodorkovsky was political move it was a wise move putin is seen in a very negative light. it was a win win win situation basically for all parties for putin certainly for quite a call ski who could leave his prison his couldn't finish this. time before he actually served it and for the germans who appear as generous hosts and he said he's going to stay out of politics when he addressed the media but he's already saying he's going to stand up for political prisoners in russia well that's being political as. well it is of course it is political but. khodorkovsky does not have the standing like let's say looks on the soul to lead sheen all he's not in the us and mandela he's not

a freedom fighter i respect his decision to support political prisoners we all should you know follow his footsteps basically. him staying out of politics is of course a difficult decision to make he is a political figure and whatever he says whatever he does will be seen also as a political move helical sees a businessman and he's saying he's going to stay out of business is that really realistic could you see him perhaps developing some sort of and pod there in germany. he is a businessman and he's been a very successful businessman. he said during his press conference that he has enough resources enough money to provide for himself and falls family. if he wanted to go back into business of course it is his decision i believe after ten years he needs some time just to recharge the batteries to recover physically

psychologically. and we will see in the coming weeks and months after he has reviewed his own situation has been reunited with his family what he is going to do if he wants to stay out of business it's probably as questionable as him saying he wants to stay out of politics he is a prominent figure and he could very easily rejoin the business community and be a very successful businessman i have no doubt and just very briefly you said earlier you didn't think it was perhaps about trade in economics but some people are saying this perhaps does improve russia's image abroad and after all of course it's got a very poor reputation for foreign investors just finally could this improve russia's reputation now an image. well it certainly doesn't prove putin's image and russia's image of calls to grant pardon putin showed some christmas

spirit i believe the business community is serge is looking just at facts and figures the release of just one man out of prison is not fundamentally change the business structure and the business interest. i think that business will commence russia's reputation will probably improve because of this decision also. spoke openly against a boycott of the olympic games you know that this is being in the discussion and discussion for various reasons so i think it's a good move that russia will certainly benefit from hootie and the decision good to get your thoughts you thank you very much indeed here bronson from the alternative of germany party live there in berlin thank you well they'll be plenty more news on mikhail khodorkovsky throughout the day with analysis both here on r.t. and on our web site r.t. dot com. or to other news now a suicide bomb attack on

a primary school in syria has reportedly killed several children it's the latest atrocity after dozens of civilians were massacred early this week by radical islamist rebels and government forces expose the killings after taking back parts of the town of address arabic channel went there to talk to eyewitnesses. terrorist 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 address but officials are saying the atrocities against the civilian population are continuing how 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 and 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 the drawer unthinkable they're slaughtering children and throwing them out of windows and no one's doing anything about it because the syrian authorities say they have evidence confirming that massacres have taken place and address the dad will attack here 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 us residents working both in the private sector and for government agencies horrifying crying must have been committed in this town houses were set on fire with people trapped inside. 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 which is now the only hope of the families waiting

for news of their loved ones inside the town. r.t. well western powers have indicated next month's peace talks in geneva may no longer involved calls for assad to be removed from power it's feared extremist could take control of the country if his government falls washington says it's willing to meet members of the newly formed islamic front group which is implicated in the bloodshed in the address we spoke with an adviser to the u.s. congress who want extremists can't be trusted well first of all it would be a strategic mistake if the u.s. administration or europe or their allies would be engaging in a partnership and a partnership meaning there would be collaborating with organizations that are jihadi 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 engaged some of these organizations probably in the goal of a very tactical engagement to make sure that both 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 minority is that exists in syria today. still to come here not international. and water. but you can't get into your house. if you make it apparently few people would but these are pictures of a magic trick but something that makes texans who live near fracking sites think twice before turning on the town but more on that shortly.

martin consumer of the seas and i see it with me in the country is the federal government to simply say the problem. is the united states suffered damage and it was probably going to realize it can just by. just throw it away. for instance belongs to the united states environmental protection agency and i found this on a dump site here here in some ways. produces the business when i should be able to collect these i believe that this should be responsible. to great. for mexico. mental health from america and corporate are also belongs to the washington metro area transit authority properties of

a dentist aids patient and trademarks. president putin held his annual mouth and q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four ounce bombarded by dozens of questions he shared his thoughts on the hottest topics of the past year and i'll teach you how to proceed. they've never met personally but his revelations 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 rough in the last few weeks with mass protest of all in favor of against moving closer with the e.u. moscow is giving kiev a fifteen billion dollar along 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 govern in ukraine not so long ago. was a foreign minister also headed the parliament to machinegun is a former prime minister who 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 scotty 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. their ship it entered our exclusive economic zone was not responding and they tried to scale the platform after 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 what happened should serve as a lesson and unite us along with greenpeace in joint efforts to minimize

environmental risks instead of just making a fuss. of course these are only a few topics touched upon which and 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 you got pissed off r.t. moscow. meanwhile rallies go on in ukraine despite assurances from the government that the country still plans to move closer to the e.u. you got a report coming up from central kiev that's just ahead here on r.t. international. first 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 it's going to church can reports residents living near wells have almost no allies in their 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 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 his 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 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 conceit that the rights it seen come in survival from oil and gas production issues should be put him in charge of also regulating the protection of groundwater from oil and gas wells 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 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 why do you sell us our says the environmental protection agency has not put nearly enough resources into studying the fact that fracking has on ground water but that didn't stop the e.p.a. from coming up with a report in favor of the practice. phillips case where advice to vent the gas constantly to keep it from accumulating under their property as their neighboring gas well continues to frack despite 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 instead who appears in that 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 leaves his family are left to fight a lot to get a healthy environment in their homes going to check on r t parker county texas meanwhile a new energy boom heading for the british countryside is yet to receive a warm welcome the government report has laid the groundwork to open up vast swathes of the u.k. to oil exploration including shale gas drilling now the light blue on this map shows you just how much land has been allocated for this throughout the u.k. and the country's energy minister has hailed this report as the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential friends of the earth helen room of 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 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. saudi arabia and its eastern neighbors team up to let the gulf know who is boss as we report on our website right now countries are creating a joint force of over one hundred thousand combat troops and online to learn why they are making a show of strength. also there a u.s. journalist who has access to a good snowden's documents says he's got four alarm systems in his burning home to keep the secret safe and that was enough to prevent intrusions more details but r.t. dot com. ukraine could still move closer to the e.u. next year if 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 once again gathered there was ortiz. 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 will 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

a month discounted still despite many experts saying that this would help the this would greatly help ukrainian economy which has been suffering an 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 sell out of the country and they are unwilling to keep protesting as long as it takes to have the government resigned and the president to step down. look at some other news making headlines today turkish police and fire tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in istanbul protesters are calling for the resignation of officials connected to a massive corruption scandal which is really seen twenty four people arrested the prime minister one has brushed off the case is a conspiracy to discredit his government. a suicide car bombing at an army checkpoint outside benghazi killed at least seven people and injured many more a truck approached the site and exploded when soldiers came up to examine the

vehicle the group has claimed responsibility and troops in eastern libya regularly come under attack by islamist. also know what up at the anti-government demonstrators a packed the streets of thailand's capital yet again the latest wave of protests against the prime minister has been ongoing for weeks protestors accuse the leader of ruling the democratic system she's trying to calm tensions by calling a snap election the beginning of february for the opposition has vowed to boycott the poll. about with the team with wolf we just have a half enough now to me time in a couple of minutes from now we explore the hazardous legacy of computers strode out with the rubbish. the parliament of yemen has put forward a motion to ban drone attacks in the country the motion is now awaiting approval by the president and it's probably impossible to enforce unless they could build

a really big net or something isn't it strange that now after years of drone strikes in their country the parliament just wakes up to the fact their systems are getting blown up from the sky to be fair yemen doesn't have a ton of cash and i could see how having the well equipped and funded 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 with the good old rifles and bayonets pointed at the right targets but that's just my opinion.

of the. moment. of the hour and only a day in the history of. man made any significant advantage. over his. computer. more than any other of man. would have been with less than a million of a second in. command three i'm already given chroma. you know a way of life and why you think you. know this isn't true said girl if you are used to common good then we.

can let you. know i was. wrong i. would not have you. wear out the wall from the ground for the. just about message you would learn from the ground source. that. you. know well as the dumber group of women. you. know. what the first time i saw one with the go area where we were going for after school study. as soon as we finish studying we'd go and play with the computer which there

were many things we can do on the computer games educational games and so on. yeah. yeah that's what i'm trying to say is that the computer broadens your horizon beaut. is just dumping and nobody wants them in their backyard in near open united states so they find a way to dispose of here this is the color blue and it was teamed with so much trish but this is what is left of it luckily. there's nothing to show just the worst seven in the luggage the water is so polluted nothing about six and him up and said.