anytime you want. at his first news conference as a free man for oil tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky says he's not interested in politics but says he will defend political prisoners. radical islamist rebels in syria allegedly massacred dozens of civilians during a battle in the suburbs of the capital damascus. also reporting this hour turkish police crackdown on protests over a corruption scandal that's put the other one government in the line of our top stories this. look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is

the weekly. says he has no interest in pursuing politics or being involved in business he held his first major news conference in the german capital where he flew directly after being released from jail after ten years on he is in. calcutta cos he entered into the press conference in a whirlwind of media hype into a room packed to the rafters with journalists many of whom were congratulating him on his release as a political prisoner however there is a number side to the yukos saga one that's not often heard. free after ten years this is the sum of mikhail khodorkovsky comments after his release raised eyebrows. some of my comrades remain in jail they are my fellow sufferers for example my friend platon lebedev alexei protrusion there are still other political prisoners in russia not only those related to the u.

cos case i am free now and i'm asking you to think of it as something which symbolizes that the efforts of civil society can lead to the release of some people who no one thought would be able to walk free. to choose again was the head of security for midst of a quote skis oil company you cos he's currently serving a life sentence book by counts of murder 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 that quite older in two thousand and seven a court convicted of ordering the shooting of that immediate bet you all of the mayor of a town in siberia and his widow believes this was a crime that went to the top. but their core skills behind the murder of my husband he's a free man now it's painful for me to talk about this because nothing can bring my husband back the international community should know the facts had a cost you should confess his sins and stop trying himself as

a victim the court found no link between the murders and the you cause head holocaust he was jailed in two thousand and three for fraud and embezzlement he refuses to accept any guilt for the crimes he was convicted of despite the conviction outside of russia to people consistently overlook the european court of human rights has repeatedly said that he's guilty as well but that never seems to get reported despite his insistence that he was a political prisoner many in russia believes holocaust he broke the law that's why he was sent to jail peter all of a r.t. berlin. well earlier we spoke to your good he's editor in chief of political magazine compact and he says there are parts of the former or the guards past the west prefers not to know about totally unknown in the west. a big economic oh criminal. have her stolen

a lot of our money from the russian people and from the right kind of state that he has stolen a lot of oil not physically abide by means of fiscal many police. every kind of businessman in the best who had done the same waterfall thought ended in prison by this story is i'm told in the west there are are speculations and there are kind of pressure on him from big factions of the anglo-saxon oil industry to mingle into russian politics to go all back into the game it is unclear what will happen. and they'll be plenty more news on the calcutta koskie throughout the day with analysis both here on r.t. and on our website dot com. news now suicide bomb attack on a primary school in syria has reportedly killed several children is the latest

atrocity off the dozens of civilians were apparently massacred earlier this week by radical islamist rebels government forces expose the killings after taking back parts of the town of andhra arabic channel went to talk to eyewitnesses 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 people trapped inside out but officials are saying the atrocities against the civilian population are continuing how people are being tortured and even burned alive and every bit of news coming out of the town is due in a new blow to those whose bama leaves are still being held by the militants and everyone working for the local authorities was to be killed regardless of their religion organ aman nation they were all taken to be killed and 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 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. he's an industrial town with a lot of the us residents working both in the private sector and for government agencies horrifying crime must have been committed to. the houses were said don't fire without people. from 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 home of the families waiting

for news of their loved ones inside. r.t. well western powers have indicated next month's peace talks in geneva may no longer involve calls for assad to be removed from power is feared extremists could take control of the country if his government falls but washington says it is willing to meet members of the newly formed islamic front group which is implicated in the bloodshed and we spoke with an advisor to the u.s. congress who warns extremists cannot 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 they 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 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. coming up on r.t. international far and water. which you can fit in here. if you think it apparently few people would but these are pictures of a magic trick but something that makes ordinary texans who live near fracking sides think twice before turning on the tap at home more now for you shortly. the first president putin held his annual american q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four hours bombarded by dozens

of questions he shared his thoughts on the hottest topics of the past year and l.t.g. got to was there. they never met personally but his revelations surely mean 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 the country has had it rough in the last few weeks with mass protest of off in favor off against moving closer with the e.u. moscow is getting key of

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 as . 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 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's

stance on the organization itself. 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 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 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 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. we've got a report coming up from central kiev just ahead here on r.t. today. well. it's technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered. live. play. basis with the economic ups and downs in the final months they belong to the old saying i and the rest look like it's going to be taking a little baby every time we come up with a lead. player

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at least. 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 the exploration and it's going to church come reports residents living near wells have almost no noise in the struggle for a safe neighborhood 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 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 lives as well the gas company denies the claim the lips his suit the range resources corp but the firm counter sued and won in cause and effect to have it and say groundwater is incredibly difficult to prove my view solace 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. issue usually put him in charge of also regulating the protection of groundwater from going down swells and there's any 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

so 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 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 is wide thousand feet deep if it were pretty much standing around on top of the one hundred years from now when somebody dies because there's some contaminant 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 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 alone to get a healthy environment in their homes going to check on our t.

parker county texas. meanwhile a new energy boom heading for the british countryside is yet to receive a warm welcome the government report of laid the groundwork to open up vast swathes of the u.k. for exploration including shale gas drilling well the light blue on this map shows you just how much of the country has been allocated for this now the u.k.'s energy minister has held this report is the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential friends of the earth's hadn't room and believes it's time to stop before it is 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 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 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 neighbors teaming up to let the gulf know who is boss as we report on our website countries a pretty good joint force of about one hundred thousand combat troops head online to learn why they're making a show of strength. plus a u.s. journalist who has access to it which snowden's documents says he's got four alarm systems in his book home to keep the secret safe but that wasn't enough to prevent intrusions more details on that right no ability dot com. these are very close to been. braving the elements in the want to just stand on u.s. soil giants. this comes after a massive hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the police that's something of a gulag of our times. it's

an undeclared global battlefield in which yemen is just one of the front lines. oh the. turkish police have fought to gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in istanbul protest as a calling for the resignation of officials connected to a massive government corruption scandal. which is already seen twenty four people arrested the prime minister has brushed off the case as a conspiracy to discredit him let's get reaction now from turkish news editor at the istanbul gazette dr adam tun it's interesting isn't it the people close to being targeted here is he losing control. yes and no. in turkey behind the scenes there was talk about the fact that these

this corruption scandal erupted because there is a struggle between. a pretty quarantine and the so-called movement led by foot to look. and so on the road both to say that there is a need to struggle for the soul of turkey in the in the in the political field between the between those two is going movements and all these protests just about corruption or is this a sign of the underlying tensions that we've seen developing in society bang in mind the previous demonstrations and protests we've seen. well as far as i would say i'm just north of course interconnected. what i think said that both in this case. the corruptions the corruption scandal is the money is the prime mover and in all honesty it seems almost fair that there is

a public outcry about this i would say that the country now when it when there were a there would have been resignations and other repercussions in turkey. so i think that the public anger about this corruption scandal which is the latest of. drink as our greatness in the production of you is on the stand we're seeing pressure from the people as you said in your first start said there's pressure from behind the scenes. is he in trouble then. is in trouble well. i i don't think that the is in trouble just can't because he has very. important mission is that he has nothing forces who are trying to. turkish progress and as a result he is firmly entrenched planning to go anywhere however this whole

corporate scandal will play out around the people are going to cost their phone next year there will be anybody's guess what for the moment i think it's fair to say. he thinks he's here to stay but do you think the protests could get stronger and stronger and perhaps more. even as the talk of a revolution perhaps that. well i would say that. would be a bit premature. having said that though i do think that the protests are going to continue because it is really quite an underage of corruption scandal in which the turkish media is described as being the largest corruption scandal in the whole world. of course does might this might just be termed hyperbole but the amounts of money being discussed are really quite mind boggling as a result i do think that the protests will keep on growing whether or not they will give rise to a real revolution i don't really think so ok thank you very much. dr. that

it's a there in istanbul thank you very much really good to have you on altie thanks for your thoughts. you're welcome. 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 crowds of once again gathered that resulted in 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's the prove that this would not happen at least in the u.s. 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 of 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 a month discounted still despite many experts saying that this would help lead this would greatly help ukrainian economy which has been suffering an ailing and pretty much in a pretty fault state this what happened 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 resign and the president to step down. tom now for a look at some other news making headlines around the world 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 no group has claimed responsibility yet troops in eastern libya regularly come under attack by islamist militias. crowds of antigovernment demonstrators packed the streets of thailand's capital yet again the latest wave of protests against the prime minister has been ongoing for weeks but just as accuse the leader of the democratic system he's trying to calm tensions by calling a snap election the beginning of february where the opposition has vowed to boycott the poll. u.k. government this week has been offered by the e.u. to help subsidize its food banks london told brussels such funding would be better delivered by member states individually but that's provoked anger in a country where the use of the charity handouts is rising dramatically. just a stone's throw from the seat of government in westminster is something that's becoming a more and more common sight in the u.k. this building's used as a food bank handing out emergency supplies to families so poor they can't afford to

eat as the cost of living rises the number of people turning to food banks increases with its funding tighter all the time but nevertheless the government has turned down a potential twenty two million pounds in funding for food aid why because the money comes from the european union britain we've caught a government with a very anti european ideology appears to be more keen to. warn europe to get credit for something than to get money which can how fate hungry people are if you are starving you need some food and you cry to die and this government's refusal to cry in the carriage is literally taking food out to the merits of the hungry the european aid for the most deprived fund amounts to two and a half billion pounds but the position britain's taken means the country will

receive just two point nine million and instead of using that for food aid as intended it's expected the government will spend it on helping unemployed people find work all well and good to say critics but there are people who need survival basics now and this money is meant for them i'll be back with more news in about fifteen minutes from now in the meantime keep building takes on business and finance venture capital is just ahead for you. some of the sixteen percent of imports came from. the european

union is ironic a taking fish from some of the poorest nations on earth so this is a very serious and very urgent problem that needs immediate international action. but they enter our territorial waters they fish they load the fish on to the ships and leave for europe. to day illegal fishing is taking the bread out of our mouths. sigrid lumber tour. was able to build most sophisticated robots which all unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach music creation and why it should care about humans in the world this is why you should care only.

please speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world's hot spots fifty yard p. interviews intriguing stories for you to. see in trying. to find out more visit our big. dog called. you're watching brant counter with me katie paul we both went to a christmas show you are going to be joined by the one and i mean that's kind of a 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 equalised food aid russia practice all the way some fun stuff in venice as well so you sit back relax.