at his first news conference as a free man former oil tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky says he's not interested in politics he wants to defend those whom he calls political prisoners. of a court finding a person guilty of murder i think it's very difficult for anyone to go and say he's guilty but he's not actually guilty because he's a political prisoner. also this hour radical islamist rebels in syria allegedly massacred dozens of civilians during a battle in the suburbs of the capital damascus. plus turkish police crackdown on protests corruption scandal that's put the other one government in the line of our top stories this hour.

the look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly. magnates mikhail khodorkovsky 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 of it is in. mikhail khodorkovsky 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 you call saga one that's not often heard for free after ten years this is that some of these 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 mr holder quote ski's oil company you cos he's currently serving a life sentence booked 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 it quite older in two thousand and seven a court convicted it too good 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. 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 how dark or ski should confess his sins and stop trying himself as a victim the court found no link between the murders and the u. cross-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 cold pictured outside of russia two 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 you. he's editor in chief of politico magazine compact and he says there are parts of the former oligarchy past the west prefers

not to know about we are not only in the west. a big economic oh criminal. have her stolen a lot of for money from the russian people and from the right kind of feed that he has a lot of oil not physically a buyer by means of fiscal or many police. every kind of businessman in the best who had done the same waterfall thought and in prison this story is i'm told in the west the article 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 for it is unclear what will happen. and they'll be plenty more news on me throughout the day with analysis

both on screen and web site dot com. to other news now in 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 apparently massacred earlier this week by radical islamist rebels government forces expose the killings after taking back parts of the town of address. 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 the people trapped inside 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 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 organ aman ation 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 a drawer unthinkable they're slaughtering children and throwing them out of windows and no one's doing anything about it just 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 us residents working both in the private sector and for government agencies horrifying crime must have been committed in this town the houses were set on fire with 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 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 involve calls for assad to be removed from power is feared extremis could take control of the country if his government falls but washington says it's willing to meet members of the newly formed islamic front group which is implicated in the bloodshed in that area 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 archie hobbies 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 the 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 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 exist in syria today. coming up on r.t. international fire and water. if you can't get into your house. if you drink it apparently few people would put these on 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 marathon q. and a session this week which lasted for more than four hours and guarded by dozens of questions he shared his thoughts on the hottest topics of the past year and r.t. as you go personal was there they'd never met personally but his revolutions surely made an impact on the world. answering a question about edward snowden the president didn't reveal his exact whereabouts but he couldn't resist humoring his all relationship with barack obama and you were 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 how 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 it 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 loan to help because of 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 were 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 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. 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 that will happen 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 it 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 the country still plans to move closer to the e.u. we've got a report coming up from central he have got another story just ahead from. well. it's technology innovation all the list of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. this is the media leave us so we leave the maybe. i will soon motion secure. your party there's a bill. for shoes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers

from it's all politics. are. dramas that could be the origin. stories others use in the. things since changing the world right. to pictures. from a student. loan. debt. 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 come reports residents living near wells have almost no analyze in their struggle for a safe neighborhood the local government in texas tells stephen 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't. make it 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 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 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 agency that derives its income in survival from oil and gas production issues really put him in charge of also regulating the protection of groundwater from our going down swells and there's a mean herron conflict of interest and 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 his 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 are 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 reporting favor of the practice. phillipe skills were devised 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 pretty much

standing around in top of the one hundred years from now when somebody dies because there's been a war and they're able to trace it to this fracking everybody else's ted who appears in that in a few losses 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 our team parker county texas meanwhile a new energy boom heading for the british countryside has yet to receive a woman a government report has laid the groundwork to open up vall sways of the u.k. for exploration including show gas drilling there the light blue on this map shows you just how much land has been allocated for this and the u.k.'s energy minister has hailed this report as the next step in unlocking britain's fracking potential friends of the earth 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 south or just the mainland of 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 his east neighbors team up to let the gulf know who is boss as we report on our website the countries are creating a joint force of ever one hundred thousand combat troops i don't know why they are making a show of strength. also there are a lot of us journalist who has access to it but slow does document says he's got for a moment systems in his home to keep the secrets safe but that wasn't enough to prevent intrusions details at all to. these.

braving the elements in order to. see us oil giants. this comes after a massive hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the place that the gulag of our time. is an undeclared global battlefield in which a young man is just one of the front lines. of the. turkish police have fought to gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in istanbul people poured into the streets to vent their anger over a massive government corruption scandal and that's all for at least twenty four

people close to prime minister arrested but the turkish needed dismiss the case as a conspiracy to discredit him and his government of john adams. told us what he thinks is behind the rest. turkey's going to scenes there is talk about the fact that this corruption scandal erupted because there is a struggle between the. parties in the so-called. and you went by foot to look in it. and so in the role of those who say that there is a need to struggle for the soul of turkey and in the in the in the political field between the me between those two is going movements what for the moment i think out on the syrian state. because he is very steadfast in his. promotion is that he is battling inside and outside forces who are trying to thwart turkish pro turkish progress and as resulting in he is firmly entrenched i knew is not going to go

anywhere however how does play out iran that people are going to cost their vote next year. ukraine can 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 are once again gathered there as. reports the 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 suspicions 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 you great at least economically with the article which president is going to moscow and signing several agreements with russia particularly deigning 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 ukraine an 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. because some other news making headlines now today and a world update just 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 they group has claimed responsibility and troops in eastern libya regularly come under attack by islamist militias. crowds of anti-government demonstrators apartment streets of thailand's capital yet again the latest wave of protests against a prime minister has been ongoing for weeks protesters accuse the leader of ruining the democratic system is trying to calm tensions by calling a snap election the beginning of february every opposition has vowed to boycott the poll. u.k. government this week has snubbed an offer by the e.u. to help subsidize its food banks in london told brussels such funding would be better delivered by member states individually that has provoked anger in a country where the use of the charity handouts is rising dramatically. with reports. 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 pray to die and this government's refusal to provide the carriage is literally taking food out to the merits of the hungry the european aid for the most deprived 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 the food aid as intended

it's expected the government will spend it on helping unemployed people find work all well and good say critics but there are people who need survival basics now and this money is meant for them. that brings up today for the moment more news in just over half an hour from now in the meantime international the second half of the terror light still on the hazardous legacy of computers that are thrown out along with all the rubbish. summer break a time when all students rejoice and most importantly relax but in russia summer break for male students could change dramatically and involve lots of guns currently male russian citizens have to put a year into the armed forces but the ministry of defense thinks that they could

make things easier by having students spend their summer breaks in the military this training would tie in with their future professions such as engineering students being put into military engineering position now the question is does your summer break belong to you or another words to the government have the right to tell you what to do and make you serve in the army even if just for three summers during your college years i think the answer of this really depends on your culture in places which haven't been invaded countless times or have a strong individual ism streak any form of conscription sounds barbaric and oppressive but if you come from a country that is less individualistic and has been attacked invaded by pretty much every country that possibly could like russia then having a draft makes more sense i think this program could work and if i was in college i would be pumped to spend my summer vacation with some heavy artillery but this is definitely not a universal idea for all countries i don't think liberals are libertarians in america would take too kindly to it and rightly so but that's just my opinion.

he wasn't playing the easiest person to negotiate with i mean many people who've met him or even those who knew him briefly all say that he wasn't completely sane what was he like when you were talking to him and negotiating with him about the lives of these people you know he was very he was very. how can i say maybe on the drugs or medicine. but he was listening maybe it wasn't the right place said the. right well. it does require us to think seriously as to how home in the future.

we or perhaps more specifically our children and grandchildren. will be able to realize three potentiality that we would like our own society to lead able to develop we shall have to find ways of playing out how to enjoy the leisure that we presume we are going to have to agree to believe that we are going to have in such a way that instead of being frustrating and making life potential. 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 times you know friend gets you know new video farther a bigger monitors on the site hey that's cool i want that. thing to remember when you're you know it's just to make sure you get everything. and never fails there's always somebody gets for god. to use them at work to look up part so we can find or look like use google maps to find addresses of the weight of it stress you have a rough day on the road to get home or whatever or i come home blow something up at a video game and nothing gets current and i feel a little better. they

have we turned 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. them. we always try to retain the fighting techniques in the video games later on a football field we imitate the technique among ourselves. just not over this way. and i move around this way and when there is an attempt to throw a punch at me i step aside.