on the pics. starting. on our. one of the newly freed me khodorkovsky steps into the media spotlight he pledges to fight for the release of his associates we take a look at their cases and why they are still behind bars. the u.s. federal reserve marks one hundred years since its foundation conceived as a tool to stabilize the economy critics say there's little to celebrate about its century of money printing. and as we begin a look back at the big stories of twenty for iraqi becomes the deadliest in the past five years with over nine thousand having fallen victim to bloody sectarian strife.

their warm welcome to you watching party international. pardon former tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky says he won't engage himself in politics or business but will dedicate himself to helping political prisoners at his first press conference following his release he said he needs to pay back its debts to the people who are still behind bars some of them are arguably prisoners of conscience as artie's peter all of our reports because over the course 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 nother side to the yukos saga one that's not often heard. free after ten years this is that some of these comments after his release the raised eyebrows may

have. some of my comrades remain in jail they are my fellow sufferers for example my friend platon lebedev alexei patrician there are still other political prisoners in russia not only those related to the you cause case i am free now and i'm asking you to think of it as something which symbolizes that the efforts of civil societies 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 accounts of 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 told there in two thousand and seven a court convicted it too good of ordering the shooting to me a better call 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 had a cost you should confess his sins and stop trying himself as a victim the co-author found no link between the murders and the prostate the higher part of course was jailed in two thousand and three for fraud and embezzlement he refuses to accept him killed for the crimes he did from victims of peter all over r.t. . while responding to what are called ski's complaint his case was politically motivated the european court of human rights ruled it actually had nothing to do with the political activities of the applicants who were not opposition leaders or public officials and also stressed the charges were not related to political life and had a healthy core you can also is the head of the political magazine compact and he believes tax evasion and embezzlement is part of the story which is not receiving

enough attention. totally unknown in the west. of big economic oh criminal. have her stolen a lot of for money from the russian people and from the russian to feed that he has a lot of oil not physically you are barred by means of fiscal many police. every kind of businessman in the best who had done the same would have all saw it in prison by this story is i'm told in the west. and there are kind of pressure on him from factions of the oil industry to all mingle into russian politics to go all back into the game or it is unclear what will happen. and to learn more about what the cost piece first comments to the

press after his release and to get opinions on his pay. surprise pardon do head to our web page at r.t. dot com. while the world prepares for christmas and new year celebrations were we're winding up the outgoing day looking at the most significant events which marked twenty thirteen. for the people of iraq this year has become the deadliest since two thousand and eight marred by a deepening sectarian divide a more innocent lives being lost as a result now more than nine thousand people have been killed this year with the victims coming from all walks of life including civilians medical personnel journalists religious leaders and security offices the remorse the loss of the human toll of sectarian violence has claimed so you one hundred twenty seven

thousand lives in the decade since the u.s. invasion while seeking to undermine the shia government sunni villian targets in different parts of the country bringing the total number of suicide bombings to four thousand the northern city of kook is often caught in the crossfire lying close to al qaeda strongholds am being claimed by both the iraqi government and the autonomous kurdistan artie's lucy cuff and catherine of found out how people there cope with the daily violence. the iraq war is supposed to be over but these pictures tell a different story chaos and confusion in the aftermath of yet another deadly blast here in cairo kook. this oil rich city has been described as a fault line a symbol for the country's most intractable woes escalating violence the conflict

among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources. getting there was our first challenge a group of kurdish soldiers had agreed to take us in both baghdad and the kurds lay claim to care coop and are sparring over control aside from the danger those entering from the kurdish side need special permission to get past the iraqi checkpoints when have it. roadblocks and concrete barriers to find the new iraq checkpoints like this one are a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the household they're also frequent target of attacks for us is a blatant visual reminder of a country still very much at your. inside your kook we drive quickly to avoid danger we're told to look out for black b.m.w. apparently they've become a favorite for iraq's insurgents who didn't pick the best day to come to roadside bombs exploded here earlier that morning around the same time that baghdad was rocked by a series of deadly blasts but has been

a flashpoint for years now and in the city center it's clear that life doesn't stop just because of the threats we were expecting empty streets but people continue to go about their business as normal vendors and busy families did their shopping beneath the surface there are scars today kirkuk continues to be an incredibly dangerous place shortly after the city without the help of a military escort residents here say that a toxic happen at any time in any place in fact it's not really safe to stay here for too long so let's get inside. we need car want to his family there kurds who say they're happy that saddam is gone but their fear of political repression has been replaced by fear of the unknown and. you know. we don't know who the enemy is or women next bomb will go off but it's a daily fears we've got used to it you know i do small things to feel safer like driving the car windows down that way if there's a blast at least the glass was heard. such precautions didn't help sixty year old

mood who says that a decade of war has ruined iraq he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time a bomb blast went off injuring his leg for him daily life has become a painful struggle just about the only do you probably have to see what benefit did to your bring democracy making all the explosions shooting and killing little should feel free to go out and come back safely where is that a job where i can leave but there's no guarantee i'll come back but soldier. no it's not about the sectarian differences unfortunately it's book the black the oil and behind this oil is the hidden interests of politicians pawns in a political game playing with their livelihoods and lives for conflicts not of their own making the iraqis we met didn't hate their neighbors or care about who controls the oil just like they simply want the peace of mind of knowing they can

go out and return to their loved ones alive to see captain of our team here in. the u.s. led invasion of iraq in two thousand and three marked by clear starts what would be a very bloody period in the country's history a mistake the carnage shows now you saw. the arabic always association told us. this is much worse than a two hour spree two thousand and three because there was no security there was no infrastructure the total failure of the infrastructure of the society the health education the teachers and the. water immigrated you have a situation where four million refugees outside the country. two million displaced in the country within the country and the killing is continuing on a daily basis that it is. so the situation is much worse.

made by both the government of iraq. who created this situation and they still want to say it was a success but it was. well after he has created a special project which brings together detailed reports in the di scale of the violence in iraq and from all of the big events of the year series y twenty is will be running all this week. these are. braving the elements in order to. this comes after a mass hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the place. of apartheid . it's an undeclared battlefield which is just one of the front lines.

still to come as a happy birthday to the federal reserve in the u.s. we look at who's actually glad to see the hundred year anniversary of the. an institution i'm sure the law and what it has a husband achieve that's coming up. largest consumer of the seas and i see it with me in the country is the federal government simply saves property of the united states government. this the united states somebody that was probably going to realize you can't just buy. your own just throw it away this is a problem for instance belongs to the you know thieves environmental protection

agency i found this on a dump site here this year it's not always. the producers of these little i have to should be able to collect these i believe that this should be responsible for their products from cradle to grave. face up to mexico. mental health proper jail cell to emerge very cooperative but also belongs to the washington metro area transit authority properties obey devastates page and trademark office.

so again today the u.s. federal reserve has one hundred candles to blow on its birthday cake founded to prevent boom and bust economics and in its first centuries faced many challenges from double digit inflation to knead depression so on it's on a very street seems the right time to ask is the fed actually doing. looks for the arts. secretive powerful wealthy and now it's got a birthday america's central bank wields enormous and almost unchecked power over the world's largest economy you're. basically. the other agency of government. action that we carry the country has seen as many as eighteen recessions since the fed was created leading many to argue it has singularly failed to and the boom and bust economics that it was designed to

prevent it's been a failure it's been a dismal failure in promoting prosperity. sustainable prolonged prosperity and raising the living standards of americans. for the past thirty years have produced the biggest growth of income inequality wages for the low and middle class have remained stagnant while the fed has allowed banks to double in size accounting for forty percent of the u.s. economy the fed has twelve regional banks and this one in new york is not only the largest it's also the closest to wall street salaries profits and bonuses have all grown over the past century one thing has shrunk the value of the u.s. dollar has declined a reported ninety five percent since america's central bank was graded following the two thousand eight hundred national crisis millions of jobs in homes were lost . wall street went on to make record breaking profits courtesy of the feds want to

cheat if easing program done is it's basically taking a lot of the credit that was on wall street's balance sheets and it's onto its own balance sheets and so it's playing this huge support function in the calling me andrew sar who spearheaded the first quarter of q.e. has apologized to americans for what he calls a backdoor bailout for the. thanks most americans can't really get credit after the financial crisis still to this day even though wall street's been stabilized and so we have this long term decline in the economic prospects of the average american and yet a lot of our leadership both in washington and within the fed specifically are really focused on trying to put humpty dumpty back together again in terms of wall street and resists resuscitate a system that i think is a working less and less for for the person on the street for one hundred years america's currency and economy has been run by unelected and virtually unaccountable central planners and while the fed has helped the rich get richer the

gap between the top one percent and the rest. is the largest it's been since the great depression merino r.t. . me more every day americans have little chance to influence the federal reserve despite its enormous impact on their finances is a professor of political economy jack russell who says the way the fed is designed will hardly ever make it act in the interest of the people. even today it's very much determined by the big banks themselves you can't get a nomination and become the director of new york fed without the ok of the big banks themselves and in fact people aren't aware that the banks actually pay for the operating expenses they did they have the federal reserve itself so it's always been an institution for the bankers and you know it's really a bit of a misrepresentation to say that the fed is going to stimulate the economy by

pumping money into the economy what's happened is that money ends up in the hands of and investors and speculators but because that money is not getting into the real economy mom and pop business you know stimulating really vestment united states we don't see any real recovery in the real economy for real folks here in the united states. there are more stories for you just a click away including a great respect for germany that's what i would snowden says is driving him to help will investigate and it's spying activities on its soil but with one tiny condition you can find out what that is. also their natures extravagant gift to the canadians who were almost left to celebrate christmas in the dark soft a heavy snow storms to the east of the country do log on to our web site for pictures of this pretty festive.

right. and i think. on our reporters with the. instrument. the. sea wasn't like the easiest person to negotiate ways 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 drugs or medicines but she was listening maybe it wasn't the right place said the right

moments. some of the sixty percent of imports came from movie goofy shit. the european union is ironically 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. on foot 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. believe it or not every christmas season it's not just children who write to santa

but adults to listing their hopes and wishes for the coming year but some people in the u.k. must have been left puzzled after they received an unusual holiday message for themselves r.t. sarah firth has more. well it's the festive season that's a tendency one parts of london in the talks mean well so much about his coming down your chimney but about what's coming through your letter box how dismissive for them council has sent this message out to seventeen thousand homes warning people to pay their rent and asking them not to solve around christmas now the council has defended their actions saying that there's little forty six percent of the tenants in rents raise and that is the time of year when people will be spending less and this is a straightforward message is part of a hard hitting campaign but with the cost of living quite in the headlines in britain at the moment and others have branded this message disgusting we've been talking to some of the people who live in this part of london to find out what they

think i think what the reaction is. i mean if you go to. looks like people are caught between a rock and. you know they want to enjoy christmas and play you run. more impressed with people should obviously be paying their rent and it's pretty explicit is if you're having trouble. presumably this is where you could cause you know i think that's actually quite a good miss to church you know you know it's christmas supposed to feel you know charlie i mean pay your rent maybe boxing. day i am like clever with your money because you're going to have a bit of fun for like a day or two and then you're just going to have a whole year just so hard no. no i don't think so i think they should get rid of those places. so i see. let's have a quick look at some other stories tonight in egypt three prominent secular

activists from the twenty seven uprising have been convicted of holding an unauthorized rally and attacking police was the first use of a controversial law restricting demonstrations all three activists received three year jail. and we'll find around seven thousand dollars meanwhile the islamic coalitions and i will boycott january's referendum on the constitution amended by the interim government which toppled president morsi. in the capital of the central african republic fans of muslims have marched against peacekeeping operations in the country according to locals the rally was triggered after three gunmen were killed in clashes with french troops it was the first demonstration since the african union and french troops arrived to end the sectarian bloodshed. and they cried of around sixteen thousand took to the streets are still combing demonstrate against racism the police presence was heavy as a previous rally ended in violence a week ago when

a group of far right activists attacked the protesters twenty eight people were arrested and taken to hospital following the assault sweden has seen a rise of the far right triggered by a growing influx of migrants a recent poll gave me and him a great weekend democrats party around ten percent support ahead of next year's general election. a bomb which israel has accused palestinians of planting exploded on a bus near tel aviv police say no one was hurt after they evacuated passengers from the vehicle before the blast israeli forces set up roadblocks at entrances to the occupied west bank and the suspects violence in the west bank has increased in recent months at least nineteen palestinians and four israelis have been killed since the peace talks got underway after three years right. up next it's sophie shevardnadze her and her interview show suffocate.

old. technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. the book.

the book . dramas that can't be ignored to. stories others refuse to notice. the faces changed lights never. filled picture of just days. from around the globe.

looking. hello welcome to sophie and co i'm sophie shevardnadze and where we are says in the ads yes work for the party led by her. and stood by his side as she successfully complained to become the french president but a few months into his term the couple divorced since then she has dedicated her life to the cause of women's rights around the world she's normally shy of being going to spotlight but now cecilia has panned a memoir calling it a desire for truth and she is our guest today. to succeed where others failed. from its present the world longed to see

a new princess diana. but she. gave up her presidential medal as well as her. so why do you want to which brought just. something happening in the country once. you're. in our guest today sicily at c.s. former first lady of france isn't your new book is called. every day the desire for truth and autobiography the most remarkable of visit in your lives as first lady as you've said it many times was the role you played in liberating a number of bulgarian nurses and a palestinian doctor who'd been jailed in libya when warmer khadafi was still in charge but what was it like i know you get that question a lot but like i still want to hear from you once again. of course it's a very interesting i mean part of my life the most. it'd.

part of my life because i mean just to say i tried i release six person it's important in their life i mean those nurses and this doctor was condemned to this as you might know and there were in jail for more than nine years and i went there trying to make a difference trying to talk was not only cut off his government his party minister and the people of save me is his son and i tried hard to was on my will to liberate those nurses and i succeeded it was too important trips the first one was twenty hours there the second one was forty five hours dealing with all those people and when i came back was the nurses it was really fabulous for me i tell a lot in my book about this it's something very important for me and i think my

life is all about that trying to help other ones that's what i'm trying to do is my from the nation and to be able to release those nurses was for me a very important part of my life and i want to even tell more about that because it was really something huge and happy to about done it but also i mean khadafi wasn't like 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 and his son also wasn't the easiest person to communicate or negotiate with what was he like when you were talking to him and negotiating with him about the lives of these people. qaddafi i mean you know he was very he was very. how can i say maybe under drugs or medicines but he was listening maybe a.