syrian and international chemical experts converge on moscow to discuss how damascus can get its toxic arsenal out of the country a condition that prevented an american strike in a war torn state and that's among the stories that made the year twenty thirteen. saudi blogger an activist faces execution for rejecting islam after already being sentenced to seven years in prison and six hundred lashes we talked to human rights campaigner about his case. and the british economy could limp past a sluggish germany within the next two decades say new forecast but for those who are not part of the affluent to lead there is little cause to celebrate.

ten am in the russian capital you're watching r t international with me marina joshing now it's been almost three years and there's still no end in sight for the war in syria which has escalated way beyond the conventional standoff between rebel forces and the government the year two thousand and thirteen has brought more trial and trauma for the people of the country and more obstacles for the global players trying to broker a solution. a study by a defense consultancy earlier this year showed that out of one hundred thousand rebels in syria who are fed manage into multiple gangs more than half are extremist jihadism fact make up around ten percent of the armed opposition while more than a third are sought to be islamic hardliners the rest are more moderate but their voices are being creasing we drowned out by the radicals are. was in the midst of

the war on the christian town of mali which suffered a deadly assault from al qaeda linked radicals. but. the mood is cheerful soldiers are smiling and relieved the jihadists have been booted out. but some of them were killed some of them escaped the locals joined the army to defend the native town the soldiers in light colored uniforms of the so-called national defense but the terrain here is very difficult with mountains and caves but we know the area better so we are carrying on with the operation of that but we come across one grocery shop owner who we filmed back in two thousand and twelve then he told us that the

armed rebels hasn't come to their village and why would they this time he's armed with a gun amongst syrian soldiers and he has some questions again syria thirty syria is a land of history and of love they sent terrorists here from all corners of the world to kill syrians and each other why i asked the world why if a european citizen is so much just slapped across the face there'd be a scandal while in syria how many victims how many hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered why will it stop with quickly find out that it won't be today held by the militants for a week it seems that mountain tops of fear hotel still poses a threat that sufi hotel our goal was to liberated them push onto my tough climb on a street but we couldn't do it there snipers are everywhere milo is home to many christian churches and monasteries as well as mosques everywhere we go here we see

either crosses on the arrests now added to these we see black jihadists flags. it's time to head back. the trial in the car something goes wrong. we take cover in a place where we find dozens of army soldiers hiding from enemy's bullets. the main road is being targeted and if he's our only way out we think over our chances when our engineer gets heat. much. thankfully it's not serious. but it becomes clear we come to a to minutes more. when

i'm stuck here in this corner and we're now trying to get out of here feeling this way. was of no no no. those have been anything done to back then they go clear a lot. of. more focus also drew the boots did you hear them whizzing by. but now say that we've reached the safe area. to foreign troops because. when you're told that this is the syrian army here to. test how do

you make sure there is too much for you got to say. and we leave while governmental forces continue their frenzy for manohla village which despite the claims remains under siege. he reported from syria. and things came to a had in august this year when the u.s. threatened to bomb syrian targets washington accuse the us government of a chemical attack outside damascus that killed hundreds of civilians but was unable to produce proof moscow moved in to defuse the situation picking up on an american suggestion that syria voluntarily destroy its chemical arsenal and that resulted in a un resolution kickstarting the disarmament process the first stage of which has already been completed and although syria's willingness to scrap its chemical arms was enough to avert an american strike the process has plenty of pitfalls

along the way and not all experts agree that it's even a good idea. just. there with us you can really. it was your you. see. it was a question. with too much. salt in the middle east with. blood. sugar something. good in which. of course. not. well we're going to discuss the situation with our correspondent a real english guy who joins us live now good morning to you so as we can see a lot has been done but still there is of a long way to go what hurdles are. syria facing on the way to complete chemical disarmament well there is of course the issue of this still ongoing violence on the ground and in order to get the chemical weapons which have

been gathered in order to get them from point a to point b. which is the port of the port of latakia from for aware of the chemicals will have to be transferred you actually have to go through several hurdles in the form of armed gangs which are permeating the area so the force there is the that's the main danger that lies there russia is providing some heavy duty lorries trucks for transportation of chemical weapons but there are still of course this this issue of security as well of several other details which have to be tinkered out there's also the method of destruction of the chemicals there is two ways that that could be done there is the method of chemical reaction where the chemicals are essentially solved and then there's the there's another method which is basically burning be chemicals so that also has to be decided and the russian the russian officials as well as american u.n. and from the organization of chemical weapons are working on these very very

details today in moscow in fact. russia's the russian officials are saying that they essentially speak every day on this subject matter with their colleagues because it's a very very important issue and there is always something maybe of minor detail but there is always something that has to be tinkered out having said that we also have to understand that this issue of destruction of chemical weapons is a complicated matter and there is a lot of bodies of all of the official bodies as well as countries involved and while russia syria and countries like italy and for example denmark are fulfilling their obligation there is the united states which of course has to supply one of the major ships for the destruction of the weapons in fact on board the american vessel man ray is where the destruction has to take place but americans are saying that that missile is still not ready and they don't know when it will be ready so there is that issue of course and hopefully by the end of the day we will be here about some of the resolutions of this matter but again the meeting is happening

behind closed doors so it's really really there's not that much information in which we are allowed to glimpse at the moment all right of course we're looking forward to more coming out of this arena for now thank you so much for bringing us this update reporting there. these are very cool to be here braving the elements in order to stand up to us oil giants chevron. this comes after a massive hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the place that sums up the gulag of our times. is an undeclared global battlefield in which again and just one of the front lines . to.

what you are here to national now this man may be put to death in a saudi arabia as a judge there says he should face charges of rejecting islam blogger and activist rife with is currently in jail after being sentenced to seven years and six hundred lashes it was earlier convicted of making and to islamic statements on his website the father of three would face the death penalty if found guilty of giving up his religion but always wife and children have had to flee to lebanon human rights activist hollow the sari says but he's case is not about face. he has been denied. his charges basically because there are no charges of clear evidence there is no clear no information relayed to him as what is his sentence that's

a story or has been denied in many occasions his lawyer haven't been able to communicate with him a regular basis or the term has been a concern for him to a decent for over a year and there is no space to fix things that he say. based on on the very next there is nothing except that general. description of his attitude as unacceptable so we believe that this is a political more than anything with concrete evidence. and human rights groups accuse the saudi authorities of persistently going after activists amnesty international has labeled dr dhar a clear case of intimidation saying that he is a prisoner of conscience who should be released immediately the saudi government has come under sustained criticism for human rights abuse and a handful of citizens have been found guilty of sorcery before being executed women aren't allowed to get behind the wheel of a car in saudi arabia and some have been flogged for driving taking part in pro reform activism or anti monetary campaigns can have you believe and thrown into

jail the situation is even worse for migrant workers in the country they often don't receive their pay and can go to prison if they complain where they are at risk of rape and torture. now it's been a very special christmas for turkey as the prime minister tries to prevent the government from being blown apart by a corruption scandal crowds in the streets keep up their calls for his resignation and that's ahead here in our team.

we speak your language will not advance. news programs and documentaries and spanish more matters to you breaking news a little turn to angles stories. here. the spanish find out more visit. us not just these telephone calls these. incepted if you walk down the street cameras follow you if you drive along main roads your car is registered because the cameras pick up your registration plate your son can be traced your mobile phone

can be traced your use of the cards can be traced all of this can be traced with just a few computer algorithms. from a society where bureaucrats could try paying mine i already want this name i get all far along those actually have your be told precisely where we are but a moment. with the economic down in the final. days. and the rest of life taking will be if we.

speak your language or not advance. news programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little turn to bangalore stories. you hear. the spanish find out more visit. welcome back this is our national the u.k. is on track to become europe's largest economy with a new report predicting it will overtake the industrial might of germany by twenty thirty but unless you're part of the money to lead it may be a little early to celebrate its a rich including top bankers who are set to reap the rewards but as are just boyko reports that's another way of saying business as usual. for many of those working

here in the city of london two thousand and thirteen has been a year of prosperity thanks to a tax cut that kicked in earlier this spring the u.k.'s highest earners have been able to make even more money this yeah the rate of tax for people earning over one hundred fifty thousand pounds per year has gone down from fifty pence to forty five so for every hundred pounds they earn over that fifty pounds used to go straight into the treasury but that figure has now been reduced and now they're only paying forty five pounds to the tax man from every hundred now all these save five as a rounding up in the u.k. is opposition labor party has done the math they say that collectively the u.k.'s highest earners have saved almost one hundred million pounds thanks to the tax cuts you have seen the longest fall in living standards on record you've got half

a million people using parents now you've got i think homelessness is up by around since two thousand and ten these are serious problems why is the government choosing to cut taxes fun like this when the government's made such play of the need for seriously bizarre and there's little evidence that it benefits the u.k. economy so most people. have their tax cut they're not investing that money this investment still on the floor they're just trying to basically london isn't called a millionaire's playground for nothing you have more super rich individuals living in the capital than anywhere else in the world you have the world's most expensive houses here and butlers a back in fashion but away from the glitz and glamour thirty million brits are going to be starting the new year living in poverty u.k. prime minister david cameron has been fighting off claims that his political party only represents the privileged few but this later. tax cuts only benefits the

richest one percent. see london and across the atlantic while taxes are a point of contention it's executive bonuses that are more and more anxious to mung the public and new reports suggested this year us bankers will be paid almost a hundred billion dollars on top of their salaries alex's goldstein an activist from the other ninety eight percent and for a quality group told us that those same banks are still receiving subsidies from taxpayers these big wall street banks pay their employees a very high b. salary usually in the range of like one hundred fifty thousand to two hundred fifty thousand but then on top of that they get this sort of performance bonus and the way that they're tallied is there's a number of surveys they basically at the top us banks how much money they had set aside for bonuses in two thousand and thirteen and that's how we arrived at the ninety one point four four billion dollars it is crazy right especially when you think about earlier this year there was this bloomberg article about how the

government there's like a government subsidy of eighty three billion dollars so it's almost as if all of that government subsidy is just going right back into bonuses but this is just way that wall street has worked for a really long time before so we're going to continue to see these problems and that's why we're saying listen you shouldn't get to take these big dollars that you've gotten in this bill gotten ways and give them to yourselves you should give it back to the people that you've harmed and has been labeled a flesh eating zombie draw later this hour our report on the devastating effects of a deadly that's cheap addictive and scarily simple to me. before that protesters have spilled into the streets of turkey trying to deliver a final blow to the government which is now teetering on the brink of collapse activists are demanding that it resign amass a man a corruption scandal that's already forced a prime minister to replace ten of his cabinet members commentators say prospects are looking good at the moment. it is the biggest political corruption in our

history and if it is the case it is more than one hundred billion euro. as some sources say i think the turkish government is having difficulties to. cover this i mean prime minister is the video harmed by this and i think the internal reactions and evan from the broad there will be more strong accusations and the turkish government. will somehow try to defend the lost a lot of credit in the eyes of turkish trait and also in the international public opinion and on our website r.t. to call we delve deeper into the bribery scale that's causing red faces in the church leadership so that's r.t. dot com. and a look at some other stories now from around the world thousands of protesters have marched through the bulgarian capital calling for the resignation of the socialist led government and snap elections students studying abroad and returning home for

christmas join the rallies as part of the so-called early risers protest movement and government demonstrations have become a regular side in bulgaria over the past six months and since the government was caught up in a corruption scandal. israel has launched a new round of airstrikes in gaza in retaliation against two rocket attacks from the palestinian territories tel aviv says a targeted militant sites including arms production and storage facilities is the second wave of strikes in the space of three days previous one that left a six year old girl dead. at least twenty nine people have died in a bus crash in central thailand there were forty passengers aboard the vehicle skidded off the bridge smashing through the rail and plunging into a ravine fifty metres below police say the driver a may have been speeding or dozed off at the wheel. a fire in

a shopping mall has killed at least four people and injured thirty five in southwest china the blaze caused by a natural gas explosion quickly spread throughout the building it's twenty eight firefighter crews for hours to put out the flames the search for survivors is still ongoing. here it's in their cottage that's ravaged parts of provincial rochelle named crocodile because of the scaly marks it leaves on the body where it's injected the concoction is highly addictive and ingredients are dirt cheap with the economy now reports of the horrific effects of a deadly drug. it's two years since drug addict alexi lost his best friend and every december his visits his grave. andrew was a group exact he was into advertising when he was involved in several projects but the thing just killed him he couldn't stop it chased him to do that thing was just some more of an extremely addictive opioid to be choosers inject as

a better known as crocodile because it gives. gangrenous skin as also described as the flash on the drug it causes severe brain damage their skin eventually falls off and kills addicks within two years alexi managed to escape the consequences of the drug but his story is more of an exception than the rule and reality of those who try the so-called world's deadliest drug even ones pay dearly for the cheap high and all too often they end up here or abroad and you got to remember my friend couldn't work because of the drug he needed to inject again it became an obsession in the end he was only working to afford the crocodile is cheap costing just in terms of the price of regular herring and most worryingly a manufactured home using over the counter chemicals. at the pleasure would be one

of the main factors widespread was responsible decisions made about could be under the ninety's where the health minister it is the sales regulations of medicine which contains called the well no one needed any prescription to buy medicine. alexei agreed to show us just how easy it is to get the vital ingredient painkillers. we were on our way to the drugstore i don't have any prescription but i believe i'll get everything i need to it's not a problem. it's. take him long just five minutes on his back alexey tells us that crocodile is made by combining cold rain with ordinary household detergents or even gasoline which every summer is just a conflict between god so many different really dangerous toxic ingredients and what they get in return is a very intense and very short time i the dixon has developed so fast faster than heroin this is

a drug of poor those who can't afford anything. russia's problem with a crocodile peaked at the turn of the century since that and the veil ability of coding has been half of the restricted and pharmacists as one of the lockyer addicts who survived after quitting crocodile alexy has a stark warning. don't do it this thing just turns you into a monster. it's so painful it's so scary you lose everything your friends your family everything. i didn't question our team moscow grow up found the arctic surge environmental protest service can finally leave russia and go home moscow has dropped all charges against them for trying to board an offshore oil rig and started issuing exit visas so get the full story on line r.t. dot com. and it turns out that you politicians hollywood big sharks and even vatican officials don't practice what they preach when it comes to piracy as it

emerges they have been downloading huge amounts of illegal content all the details . and i look now at the latest breaks verse and gadgets in the high tech world next in technology update. although i have gone duck hunting a few times i've never seen the duck dynasty t.v. show but gosh i heard about the scandal involving one of the stars of the show phil robertson who got suspended for making what many consider anti homo sexual comments in an interview this slippery scandal is creating a lot of arguments about freedom of speech on social networks many people who believe that robertson deserved to be booted from the show for what he said argue that freedom of speech means that robertson can't be arrested by the government for

what he said but the any t.v. channel has the right to fire whom they like the thing is that if the situation were reversed and robertson was fired for making. statements then people who are currently defending any right to hire and fire as they please would all be bashing the t.v. channel for violating the stars freedom of speech think cry that firing him would violate his rights and i'm sure some websites would make him into a hero or demand a boycott a closed and a forever very few people actually believe in freedom of speech for all they just believe in freedom of speech for people who agree with them but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to technology updates on today's show christmas comes early for moscow's young innovators. and novel animation up brings films to the big screen. a moscow state university gives a whole new meaning to wearable technology but first you may still be a couple of days off but they've already been plenty of festivities this month. on top of the line. take no spark nano technology sensor was officially opened in the town of troy just south of moscow. aims to become a launch pad for high tech startups by bringing together all the facilities and know how to develop and produce innovative goods all under one roof while the town's strong.