breaking news dominates this hour on r t a terrorist attack in the russian city of volgograd killed fifteen and injured dozens dozens more delegates female suicide bomber targets the city's main a railway station. and the week's top headlines mass rallies in turkey to demand the government step down over a wide ranging corruption scandal are met with a tough police response. plus we'll look at the stories that shape twenty thirteen a year that's all cia contractor turned whistleblower edward snowden exposed america's far reaching global surveillance.

international live from moscow let's go straight to our breaking news this hour it has been confirmed fifteen people have been killed in a suicide bomb blast in russia's southern city of volgograd dozens more were injured by the blast which was detonated at the city's central railway station. has details. well the blast was caused by a female suicide bomber at the checkpoint at the entrance to the central train station and all of this happened queue of passengers were standing there waiting for their luggage to be checked right now investigators are working there on the scene the president has sent his representative to forget about to control the situation on the spot reportedly the blast was very powerful. stories play station we damaged and it was curious how witnesses describe what was happening i was

inside in the waiting home i heard an explosion i didn't realized what had happened and i saw the giant engines do was completely ruined and people were coming out with their hair and. i was with a child not far from where the blast happened i saw a blast shot its last flight i pushed the child to the floor and covered him with my body. we were drinking coffee there was an explosion i was lucky to be wearing my hood it saved me from all the shattered glass we heard screams my coat is covered in blood. the emergencies ministry has been on standby ready to send planes still get out to provide medical assistance to the injured and possibly to evacuate some of those who need more sophisticated medical help to moscow and it's already been announced that generally first second and third will be days of mourning in god region just around two months ago and we told her another female suicide bomber detonated an explosive device on

a public bus killing herself and six others and wounding over thirty other passengers. well there's been a lot of reaction to the events in volgograd on social media on twitter eyewitnesses have been posting their reports from the scene here's some of them let's take a look for toggery for who lives nearby tweeted that the blast was so powerful the massive doors of the railway station have were completely blown out another witness reports that immediately that people or rather immediately arrived at the scene to help the victims while the deputy head of the city treated all volgograd top officials are on the scene we spoke to senior lecturer at moscow state university marks the boda he explained why he believes the city came under attack. is the principal focus simply because it's an easy and close target to the south of the caucasus. just yesterday there the russian security services

reported that a principal aide to the self-styled of leader of the caucasus doku umarov was killed in dog stand by security forces i think we can look at this attack today as for more than likely a very rapid reaction revenge attack or the chilling with the local marks. well for more we're joined to live by dr you're a hottie research fellow from the institute of international institute for counterterrorism thank you for joining us what do you think could be behind this terror attack. well it seems to be a one in the long list of facts which happened before which usually is concerned with the case of if they saw that it was carried out by of this woman this woman started out by the woman of radical islam of traditional region then this sort of

attack happened before in the same area a few days ago and about two months ago and in other places again even in the most itself the company again by stories to the women in one of the major. so such attack is probably the reason or the reason for such a talk is probably connected with first time to carry out such attacks at the time possibly possible in though that the raise that gave the case of the ok because not always the world is still well feet and usually there are other things that this will be done by being known or being put on the media and secondly because of the near salt. games which are about to be starting six weeks time and it's not very far from this apparently this was another attempt in which it was carried out in order to bring this about to the made to them old media and to try to frighten to some extent although it's not clear if it is going to be

successful participants or states from taking part in such an area because one can say well it is not safe enough to send you know i think to such a major olympic which takes place very soon so you want to go even for that reason so long hair and days and security across russia is so high at the moment because we're so close to one picks how can such attacks be prevented. what is such attacks are not always not always easy to prevent it and there's you know that takes place in other parts of the world and just to mention the fact that the last several months ago in boston in america again by people originally came from chechnya for this attack to be of such a talks to be prevented there must be a very good intelligence i think that it is could be with the hands of the country consent of the services that they have to have of course corporation repeat between countries because sometimes an attack is being planned in one place and thanks

president different part of the world completely so in order to try to prevent such attacks as much as possible that's why we need very good intelligence and of course cooperation with as many you know muslims in communities around the state itself or other places in order to make sure that they would make might be able to cooperate with the state security services in order to prevent such attacks from taking place if there themselves comes from proof that such an attack is not the good tactics to carry out and i just remind you that in fact in chechnya itself since mr imus sankari of going to power well chechnya has become completely changes now a very beautiful place to be and those who are against mr. allen think those who remained from the previous underground that took place or the terror with that carried out many attacks in this area and it does not commit to what extent they

still have a lot of support if i look even if they have small so-called are still able as we can see. in other parts of the region of the soviet union russia story and also as i said even in the capital what can be done internationally if we if we look at a global level it is it's a global fight against terrorism but specifically what can be done in terms of russia to help fight terrorism. as i said internationally the first week of gross is. the way to create awareness for such a phenomenon as in fact it exists now since being the talk of the place in september eleventh in the united states but such attacks ever since and before. for other parts of the world and we have seen the last decade such attacks in various parts of the world you open in russia. it doesn't go well. ok got us on c.n.n. i'm going to have been cut you off there. sorry to interrupt you thank you so much

for your analysis this hour here ok international. well news just in it has now been confirmed that the number of those killed in the volgograd blast is sixteen people fourteen people were killed after the scene two more have now died in hospital. or early reports suggest the female suicide bomber who blew herself up at the railway station in volgograd was twenty six years old and came from russia southern republic of dagestan the woman named oksana astana had been on the police wanted list since twenty twelve and is said to have been a close friend of a single who carried out a suicide attack in the same city in just october anti-terrorism advisor to the u.s. house of representatives walid phares thinks the motives of the jihadist attacks like these are always the same wherever they are. we're talking about asian harvest movement which is linked to al qaida that is outraged but not just in russia but

also in other countries including in syria as we know now now the direct motive is not different from the previous attacks on moscow on other locations inside russia and i would say is not so different from attacks that has happened around the world but i'll guard a theory it's against democracies against countries that they want to consider as enemies but most of the answers that we had around the world and of course in russia is that the chechen jihad is all those terrorist units had a greater presence in that particular geographical area in all of pride in this case and therefore they are instructing their militants who do the repeat of these attacks. about forty people who were in the waiting hall when the explosion happened were taken to hospital the youngest victim is reported to be a nine year old girl taxi drivers were acting as volunteers to quickly take the wounded for treatment and cadets from the local police academy rushed to donate blood to local hospitals in light of the attack many are raising concerns over

security at the upcoming olympics in sochi but robert siegel from the united russia party believes the two issues can be compared. to just about always naturally the main focus is now on the way security will be provided in sochi but it's worth mentioning there's a great difference between volgograd railway station and the olympic games in terms of security so worries about the safety of the olympics absolutely baseless. because the following developments and we'll bring you all the details as and when we get them you can log on to our team dot com for a minute by minute timeline of the events in volgograd. now look at the week's top stories thousands gathered in turkey's capital ankara to demand the resignation of the country's government that's after a violent dispersal of protesters in istanbul on friday night where police used tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowds the rallies were sparked by

a corruption probe that led to a major cabinet reshuffle and the arrest of government officials artists are first has been following events. it's not uncommon sights understand those streets in a year that's been marked by widespread protests but this time the rallies taking place in the wake of a corruption crackdown disrupt the government the threats to prime minister comes not just from the streets but from within his own party the turnout for the demonstration was significantly smaller than that seemed to some of them the last of the clashes broke out between police and protesters as a guy who's been in power for such a long time has maintained control a lot of people said that a lot of good things to the country right now the. government actually it has become very good for protesters. in this.

region that is not. big enough to stop this speaking publicly out of the protests the prime minister remains defiant and continued to blame the corruption probe all of foreign conspiracy. a second wave of detentions may still be possible if the tide being a deadlock for mainz with the police the prosecutor publicly accused the law enforcement being in the government's pocket by refusing a court decision to carry out more raids on government officials and the families as that political drama continues to unfold arguably the biggest test now facing the embattled prime minister still lies ahead of him match. test for. extremely crucial. bad. rabbit.

the future. may be very difficult plan. and. and it could well be that when days like the elections take place the full impact of the corruption scandal really about arafat on the starboard. the u.s. voiced concern over the corruption scandal in turkey urging the government to handle it with more transparency but international relations professor hussein bagchi thinks the corruption probe is not just going to blow over it is the biggest political corruption in our history and if it is the case it is more than one hundred billion euros. some sources say i think the turkish government is having difficulties to. cover the prime minister is very 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 the turkish electorate and also in the international public opinion. mourners had for you right after this break including a look back at the stories that shaped twenty thirty. he survived the atrocities. to make cyclists decision. has changed his life and the world around him. by giving. hope. and love to so many children.

nikolai the lyrics work on the. dramas that can't be ignored to. stories others through a few still no. food since changing the world light snack. food picture of today's news. from around the globe. broke to. me. welcome back to the weekly here on arts international this sunday as twenty eight thirteen winds down we're looking back at the biggest stories of the year.

held as a hero and condemned as a traitor cia whistleblower edward snowden revealed to the world just how much the u.s. is spying harvesting information and storing huge amounts of phone and internet data with every new leak and i say surveillance appears more and more far reaching r.t. is going to check out looks at how the revelations are changing the world and the cost to whistleblowers. edward snowden says george orwell's fictitious big brother is no match for the u.s. national security agency the types of collection the book microphones and video cameras t.v.'s that watches are nothing compared to what we have today snowden revealed that a secret court rubber stamps warrants for telecommunication companies to hand out the data of millions of their customers he also leave to the programs that the government uses to track virtually anything anybody does on the internet and also

store that information and he showed how the u.s. government had lie about mass surveillance does the n.s.a. collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans. no sir while most americans think to edward snowden the u.s. government techmeme is a spy and a traitor the united states government classified its evidence of its own criminal misconduct its its violations of the bill of rights what we're doing is said to catering to tell a tarion procedures which is gathering information about all the individuals in the world. the former intelligence contractor is now in exile knowing for certain that he'd go to jail should he return to the u.s. like bradley and now chelsea manning who was sentenced to thirty five years in jail this august so we could leaks manning released many thousands of diplomatic cables

and video proof of u.s. involvement in war crimes another man who found himself in jail this year was john key the first u.s. official to confirm the government's use of waterboarding to interrogate carries suspects i caught up with him shortly before he went to serve his two and a half year sentence i have never believed that my case was about a leak i have always believed that my case is about torture in the hunt for whistleblowers journalists have been targeted as well u.s. authorities secretly tapped the phones of dozens of associated press journalists the partner of glenn greenwald who broke the story about n.s.a. surveillance was detained in london while carrying materials from edward snowden the british authorities still closely cooperate with washington now accuse him of quote terrorism aaron swartz was neither a whistleblower nor a journalist but he was a champion of the free internet fighting against censorship villains and advocating

the online release of as much information as possible on the government on january eleventh the twenty six year old committed suicide. prosecutors wanted to put him in jail for up to thirty five years for downloading academic articles from a subscription based research website at his going to first city with the intent to make them available to the public this was somebody who was pushed to. by what i think of as a kind of bullying by our government a government for treated him as if he were nine eleven terrorists edward snowden's revelations showed with the kind of surveillance that governments are doing i would seize out the window but this year will also learn what happens to those who embrace this new age of openness and accessibility of information showed that while governments in the u.s. government first and foremost one their populations to be open and transparent they themselves become increasingly secretive in washington i'm going to shut down our

team. well take a closer look at what snowden exposed about n.s.a. surveillance it's collecting millions of phone records in america every day and it also has access to internet giants like google facebook and microsoft and it's harvesting online data around the globe on top of that the security agency targets european citizens and even taps e.u. leaders but at the same time germany and the u.k. along with australia and canada are actually closely collaborating with american intelligence latin american governments and companies are a major target for u.s. spies plus the n.s.a. is collecting data from fiber optic cables that carry most of the world's internet and phone traffic former cia officer ray mcgovern believes those violating privacy should face justice not the leakers. i am delighted to hear that ed snowden on his desk in honolulu had a copy of the constitution of the united states all dog eared because he used it to

argue with his in his campaign there it is say as to whether what they were doing was legal whether it was constitutional whether it was a crime for them to be corrupt to be cooperated in using their technical expertise to violate america's privacy right and left but the question should be why those who are aided and abetted this whether they should be in the spose impeached in their case and brought to trial for these of gross violations of their solemn oath to to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies well throughout the day are to international is showing media stana road movie about wiki leaks activists on a mission to reveal sensitive u.s. secrets and at six pm g.m.t. we'll have a live discussion about the project with a panel of guests talking about the challenges and dangers of whistle blowing that

whistle blowers are facing i said say as well as the role of the media in challenging the revelations. line for you right now breaking records in open space on our website there's a breathtaking video of russian cosmonauts on a scheduled space walk which turned out to be the longest in twenty thirteen. was fast and furious hundreds of teenagers storm a new york shopping center crashing windows and putting customers and staff in a panic to find out more about the you've gone wild head to our dot com. now some other stories making headlines around the globe this hour violent clashes between young rioters and police have rocked egypt's main islamic university for a second day at least two people died after tear gas was used against angry crowds around campus buildings the government accused students supporters of the muslim brotherhood of sabotaging exams and the academic year and rallies held by supporters of the ousted president morsi have escalated this week since the muslim

brotherhood was declared a terrorist organization. at least one person died in fresh classes between throughout thousands of security forces and protesters in bangladesh a twenty one year old student was killed after police fired rubber bullets at the crowds demonstrators are demanding the prime minister cancel upcoming elections hundreds have been detained ahead of the polls. in the libyan capital tripoli protesters besieged the foreign ministry building demanding the government step down it comes a few days after dozens of our men blocked a port in the capital and the entrance to the central bank drove up to the building in trucks and allowed staff to leave first the militias are demanding the resignation of the country's prime minister ali zeidan article but. israel has shelled neighboring lebanon after two rockets struck its northern territories witnesses say over twenty shells hit lebanese border areas no injuries

or damage have been reported on either side of the frontier between the two countries has largely been peaceful since the short nor in two thousand and six but tensions escalated earlier this month when lebanese army snipers opened fire across the border and killed an israeli troops. a recap now of our breaking news it has been confirmed that sixteen people were killed in a suicide bomb blast in russia in southern city of volgograd dozens more were injured by the blast at the city's central railway station it was carried out by a female suicide bomber she was stopped by a policeman and is said to have detonated herself near metal detectors at the entrance to the railway terminal the blast was extremely powerful for causing doors and windows of the station to be blown out completely. more on that story at the top of the hour but artie's weekly business so venture capital is next with katie pilbeam stay with us.

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 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 pumps. but maher summer vacation with some heavy artillery but this is definitely not a universal idea for all countries i don't think liberals or libertarians in america would take too kindly to it and rightly so but the surest.

welcome to venture capital have you had an amazing christmas and you're enjoying the rest of your holidays in today so we're going to be looking back on some of the financial windows on the losers of twenty team will be speaking to saxo bank chief economist stephen jacobson the next is outrageous dictions the new publication the always stocks to base bust it's been another year of modest success to solve an economic woes but the general theme for the majority of the world's major economies has been the still willing of gripe it seems that the recovery road from the financial crisis is a long winding one the european debt crisis has managed to avoid collapse but yet there's no resolution that will see us shut down over money squabbles through ukraine trade tug of war and russia fell to achieve its big growth so we're going to check in with our correspondents in washington but in kiev and central moscow

from all twenty thirteen another says his first check in with period during his in washington for us a parent tell us twenty thirty course he will take. recording is definitely the financial winner. in the united states started the year at about thirteen dollars and peaked at twelve hundred additionally congress held hearings on virtual currencies last month were federal regulatory officials recognized the benefits of big coin closing the year on a very positive note anyone invested in the virtual currency did very well in two thousand and thirteen the biggest loser this year is the middle class this year alone at their quantitative easing the federal reserve spent about a trillion dollars in bond purchases which is devaluing the u.s. dollar and of course it's also headers the country's reputation on the world stage and helped lead to the top of a possible debt default during the partial government shutdown anyone on a fixed and.