i. think. president putin rewrites his new year address pledging to fight terrorists until they are fully defeated following two suicide blasts in volgograd which claimed thirty four lives. also machines are watching the n.s.a. is reportedly intercepting laptops purchased online to install spying malware before they reach their destination. and the year of revelations breakthroughs in process edward snowden spy scandal a long awaited nuclear deal with iran global rallies against g.m. food and fracking we'll look at the stories that shaped twenty thirty.

welcome it's good to have your company you're watching r.t. international. the russian president vladimir putin has changed his new year address and pledge to fight terrorists until they are fully defeated it follows two deadly suicide bombings in volgograd in just two days. off has more. the president changed his traditional new year's address location from the kremlin to the russian far east where he's currently on an unexpected visit reading the new year with those affected by major floods which happened in the region last summer and led me to put in more of the things he talked about spoke about the challenges that russia had to face in two thousand and thirteen including the two latest terror attacks in the volga the president voices voiced his condolences to the families of the victims pledged to provide all the necessary support and help and also promise to continue fighting terrorists until they are completely defeated

that argue that the difference we are heads of the victims of these are true issues acts of terror will keep up the rigorous and consistent fight against the terrorists until they are fully defeated. the statement was made seven hours before the new year in moscow that's the time difference between the capital and. traditionally the president's new year's addresses are watched by the majority of the population while russian families families in the russian city of volgograd have started to bury their loved ones who were killed in the two successive suicide bombings the attacks within twenty four hours of each other targeted the city's main train station and a crowded bus the number of dead following the terror attacks has risen to thirty four and dozens more are still in hospital artie's market how is in baghdad. it is tense it's also very somber the traffic seems to me moving more slowly than i was

able to catch up with some of the family members of people who have died namely the father of the security guard but here is their story it's been one more uneasy night for residents of russia's southern city of volgograd loved ones of the injured in two terror attacks here held vigils in hospitals while others mourned. he was a good man a good father a good son a good grandson or not so many of such good ones around the good ones die first they say. with barely contained tears of blood a mere nelly vika clutches to the memory of his son who was the victim of sunday's attack at the train station sergei was a security guard there. he had this job for about a year or so how it all happened on the video footage he was standing by the railing during the security check and then there was this man coming in and he just barely made it towards him and then there was

a blast and it was over sergei's family mourned monday night with only the conviction that he carried out his responsibilities to bring them any small comfort for others in volgograd the night brought fragile relief in the knowledge that loved ones were spared but they woke up the next morning to a second suicide bomber this time on a city trolley bus. this was i can't remember anything i was deafened by the blast we had almost reached the bus stop when the explosion went off it was like an electric shock all over my body volgograd is still reeling after two terror attacks within the span of twenty four hours we met batali in his home just hours after his friend was killed in monday's attack i was shocked he had a family a young wife and a small child it's very sad to realize that a young man died in such a tragic incident. stories like these two are poring over all the great city limits

with the residents there hoping for more time to mourn their family and friends and rebuild their lives in volgograd margaret how will r.t. . former pentagon official michael maloof says the attacks in volgograd are part of this plan to spread its influence around the globe. it's part of an over arching strategy by al qaeda to link all of the jihadists. to as part of an overall strategy to alternately. take down russia and also europe and i think the they probably these fighters probably feel that they have moscow on the defensive because there's increasing battles that have been going on in the months leading up to this point and they have demonstrated their capabilities a lot of them get killed but they keep coming and i think that. they are part of

a larger picture of. the sunni movement worldwide. more reaction and analysis of the tragedy as well as the latest updates on the investigation to you had to well website at r.t. dot com. throughout the year protests have gripped countries worldwide but the public using this is an effective method of getting their message across to the authorities but as artie's more if an option a report this kind of freedom of expression is now under threat in some states which trying to be bastions of democracy. word. from the u.s. . canada i presume. how to respond is thailand. and much of europe basically the large group of protesters that people protest they're furious with the stereotype policies in europe the n.s.a.

surveillance and drones in america and the wide range of concerns like freedom of the press and the loss of the secular state in turkey. disenchanted disagreeing and desperate to be heard when they go through the usual channels of electoral democracy they just have a feeling that the governments aren't representing their interests so they feel they have no alternative but to take to the streets and express themselves in a way that the government cannot ignore them and the governments haven't ignored them is certainly a problem in many places in some sort of gap between popular feeling and the way government triac many of the protests sparked on different continents and in different countries these here and up with clashes between protesters and authorities the greatest fear the government has is that people will feel protesters fashionable that people will feel that democracy is fashionable

some decided to use the law to protect themselves from these risks in chicago and come back and in spain and to protest laws that heavy fines or even jail sentences for demonstrating operative supplanting in allegedly violent protest and democracy is not just having an elected government it is also being able to accept listen to and incorporate many different voices. and it's. brand what's being passed off as representative democracy but which is actually government by corporatist global worse they make some minor concessions hoping that the protests will dissipate and then they can continue business as usual but with protests now becoming a more poor people form of dialogue with authorities it will hardly be an easy thing to do. those different things they protest what they see is a police state if the case against the persecution of whistleblowers that thing not

. going anywhere that it would. reach national r.t. . now an attempt to rescue a ship trapped in frozen antarctic ice hasn't exactly gone to plan the chinese icebreaker sent to evacuate the russian vessel academic should koski is now trapped two previously in australian ice breaker failed to reach the ship which has been stranded since christmas having to turn back because of poor weather conditions china's vessel as you long was then sent to airlift trap scientists by helicopter but has barely move for a day and is waiting for the weather to improve and an american icebreaker polar star is currently on route from seattle but won't be there for another week but don't worry because we are told the seventy four scientists tourists and crew on board are in no danger and they do have all they need to welcome in the new year including enough ice for their drinks careful what you do with your laptop because

the latest revelations of n.s.a. spying suggest american spies may be logging every keystroke you make an article in the german dispy the magazine claims the agency installs rigged cables allowing it to see everything displayed on the p.c. monitor as they are plugged into multiple disguised bugging devices also allegedly send and receive data using radio waves journalist david seaman believes these revelations will backfire on global tech companies. my understanding of it is that this is extremely widespread but is not so much the companies cooperating with the n.s.a. as it is the n.s.a. pouring tremendous amounts of money and talent into developing these hacks we're talking about complete orwellian control of innocent people's phones that innocent people's computers and laptops and i think that it undermines basic faith and confidence in american tech companies this is going to lead to a massive loss of revenue technology has the power to lift all of us up to provide

more innovation and transparency than ever before in human history and that's the path that the internet was already on you see the explosion in online media and everybody has a voice an opinion in this global society but the n.s.a. has destroyed a lot of that it's undermined basic faith in the internet. just ahead for you a look back at the stories and revelations which shaped twenty. five yes i had the world and what it cost that would snowden to expose it as well as winds of change in iran a nuclear bright three detail and historic resolution on syria plus plenty more just after this quick break. the beginning of the long politic night moxon the fades from island life. in sin the enough temptation. the darkness last for six months.

more polar bears than people. and it's as easy to hire a rifle as a scooter. because the island is so in a special there are no indigenous people but there are all those who do choose this frozen life. this is could be right and. if you're. going to use it sigrid laboratory to mccurry was able to build a new it's most sophisticated robot which all unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tunes mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world this is why you should care only on the dog.

hello again now is twenty thirteen comes to an end we look back at what history will remember from the last twelve months spy scandals breakthroughs in international diplomacy drone controversies and the bits of fruits of the arab spring artie's in the scenary reviews the biggest stories of the agony you. i would describe this man as an american hero he's a hero but each node is a hero the whistleblower sent a world wide wake up call with the ultimate revelation of twenty thirteen the former n.s.a. analyst told it all america was spying on citizens world leaders friends and foes alike and the man has broken the laws and i damaged the country i think is a traitor snowden quickly became the most wanted man of the year with the us ready to stop and search

a president's plane just in case. my first thought when i was forced to land was how can your opinion countries obey the will of the us i imagine these nations would defenders of democracy snowden made moscow's airport his home for weeks before finding a way out that it was not his plan to end up here and there was united states made him stale us by revoking us passport and russia to its credit actually recognized international law and granted political asylum the whistleblower remains in an undisclosed location in the russian capital we have existed for just this one last. night visions lie to us and want. to suck a. person someone told the truth snowden promises to keep the leaks coming through twenty fourteen together we can find a better balance and mass surveillance and for

a mind to the government that if it really wants to know how we feel asking is always cheaper than spying. the u.s. government can and will shut down it came to a standstill for over two weeks in what's becoming an annual tradition brand america. took a beating here lawmakers couldn't agree on raising the debt ceiling and came very close to defaulting on some seventeen trillion dollars then surely the market's going to say we don't want to play this game many more we're not ulit you money at any price the i.m.f. and world bank warned of dire consequences while china called for the world's de americanised nation given that we see time and time again these political crisis appear in the us i think there would be more calls for sort of trying to reduce dependence in america eventually

a deal and thousands of federal employees could go back to work parks and war memorials reopened and protests die down but the shut down side effects lingered on this was really a spectacle following a series of spectacles that has downgraded america's image worldwide to levels i've never seen so low. with a new president a new mood iran's hassan rouhani broke the ice on over thirty years of frozen times between tehran and washington rouhani is this diplomat he will not be the one to back up from diplomacy first a phone call with obama while on his maiden visit to the un then the nuclear deal of the decade the iranians have shown time after time that there is no evidence that iran's nuclear program is anything but peaceful is something that has been ignored by the western media and western governments but this despite all that

iran's real cillian is has forced these countries to accept. enrichment and they can the russians and the chinese have played a very constructive role iran agreed to restrict and regulate its nuclear program but maintained the right to peaceful energy in return sanctions and rhetoric eased russia held diplomacy for sealing the deal the west said it's harsh sanctions secured the breakthrough. ten years on and iraq still reels from violence a decade since the u.s. led invasion but twenty thirteen was also one of the bloodiest years. the united states employed a classic divide and rule strategy pitting people of different sects against each other and in inciting violence that is completely unprecedented in that country the

civilian deaths continue to mount at the time of the occupation the us occupied years favored certain groups in the population against others demolish the state that existed and so in there put in its place we were going to give you something new and better democratic and wonderful. well this is just it is good. he has the most phenomenal amount of blood on his hands assad didn't go nor did the rebels. meantime the syrian civil war reached a hundred thousand deaths well it's still not resolved as to who was behind august chemical attack which killed some fifteen hundred people appear. to our investigation that that was used by opening so anybody who reads the facts and puts the dots together which is easy to do and they made it easy to do.

understand. what those facts mean those facts weren't revealed yet brought obama very close to direct military action against a mascot he was committed to launch a bombing campaign but then a breakthrough for there is a historic resolution is to force the whole for dualists on syria in our own time russia and the us let it deal which saw president also agreed to give up syria's chemical weapons the slow disarmament process began but still no sign from the fractured rebel factions of a willingness to unite for peace. the arab spring is still not blooming it's actually quite shameful to see countries a new leaders of western governments who hail themselves because of democracy supporting the slaughter of democracy and its supporters in into it the only may have pulled the trigger yes but it was the west that loaded the gun mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood didn't survive long at the helm of egypt he spent most

of twenty thirteen behind bars when he was removed by the military after mass protests hit again we have seen the. credit government overthrown. is shameful that the western leaders are around call it a coup this is an old sanctioned military coup in tunisia and libya the chaos continues people are desperate to try and put a cover all of what has been created by the libyan disaster in the fall of gadhafi . one ton of modes not go in the guard strap it is here down to a chair and then they put a mask over his face so that the detainee can't move bite or spit and the nurse snakes the feeding tube into a nasal cavity a mass hunger strike refocused global attention on the prison at one point most inmates were refusing food the prisoners has not met one another and speak

different languages keep saying the same thing that we were tortured we were abused very tied. to the chair they shackled our legs to the ground they put a strap across and they forced in a tube into our noses for said twice daily routine for many at the prison which president obama pledged to close over five years ago. drones targeting terrorists but killing more civilians how many people are we going to have to kill before we can finally say ok that's it objective achieved war over we can call this thing of terrorists in yemen and pakistan but also wedding parties and family dinners entire communities being shattered so you may have one or two or three intended targets be killed the bad guys but then you have one hundred two hundred three hundred completely innocent people being killed america does not take

strikes to punish individuals we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the american people. ahrendts is back mass protests has returned to kiev almost a decade after the aren't revolution because ukraine dropped out of an e.u. trade deal and plenty of politicians from around the world joined in the us in the e.u. talk a lot about european values and western values but is it a western value to allow a foreign country to come in an influential electoral process to influence politics on the streets of course it's not the east once to go east the west wants to look west and everyone in between wants to say what about the look at the rhetoric that was emanating from brussels in washington when ukraine failed to sign it became clear that it was very much directed against russia and that it was good for the ukrainian people. space rocks pack

a punch a flaming meteor streaked across the sky and slammed into two lab and skin central russia with a shockwave equal to twenty nuclear bombs though so many rumors from a jet down to a satellite and even to the start of the end of the world it damaged dozens of buildings injured hundreds of people but took everyone by surprise no one saw it coming. viral videos of its final moments helped r.t. to a billion views on you tube the first news channel ever to do so. you might have hit or miss an online gold mine bit coy as absolutely triumphed as the dollar has crash and ninety per cent i guess a bit coy as bit coy is set to take on the world and root out the bank's stirrers the world's most popular digital currency stirred up supporters and cynics cyber

criminals love it drug dealers use it terrorists are looking into it the risks are clear but bitcoin snapping at the dollar's heels and the banks are getting nervous if they were complete with the monetary system if they felt it was safe then they wouldn't be looking for an option like bitcoin it's a sign of where the society is going but it's old money that troubled greece and the austerity crowds weary of years of financial life support from abroad or the government crackdown on the rising right shouting the openly fascist golden dawn party which was connected to the killing of an anti rightwing rapper. people are ready to go after go lions chemical companies are feeding us and our families now sort of laugh already to table rather than farm to table protest against food giant monsanto peaked in two thousand and thirteen with activists

trying to spread awareness about what they say are the dangers of genetically modified foods while sandu has been continuously voted as the most evil company on the planet year after year with stiff competition most media outlets didn't cover this growing global movement nor the one gathering steam to fight the likes of chevron and the energy giants fracking projects. the controversial process to release oil and gas deep underground ignited global campaigns against its damning environmental potential irrefutable evidence of contamination air pollution water contamination battle between big business and the interests of the people. putin proved hard to predict. recently wrote a petition asking me to pardon him he spent more than ten years in prison this is a serious punishment he sighs humanitarian reasons saying his mother is sick and i believe taking jus account of all the circumstances it's possible to take

a respective decision and in the near future i will sign a decree to pardon him mikail her dark of ski was released along with members of pussy riot and greenpeace activists in a nationwide amnesty international a their relations with the rest of the world have been deteriorating rapidly ever getting worse and worse perhaps hussein with this is trying to put a stop to that or a marker and to slow down the process but inside russia there remain questions about how their course ski and the fall of the oil giant yukos the russia will be able to know where is the money all the people who are well russians to of course shakily feel the call of course he got what he deserved the move has been called everything from priya limbic p.r. to simple logic and continues to puzzle many in and outside of russia most are waiting to see what mikhail khodorkovsky will do with his freedom in twenty fourteen and beyond. it

is coming up to help us nine here in the russian capital the new year is just around the corner and in less than an hour and a half's time we will begin our special coverage to welcome in twenty fourteen. i'm an old school kind of guy i like tradition and heritage and all that stuff when i look to the past i see that there's a lot that we could learn from our ancestors however one thing we don't need from them are debtors prisons which according to a fox news report are somehow on the rise in the united states in the twenty first century the a.c.l.u. and the britain center for justice claim that the local courts have been sending individuals with unpaid fines and fees jail which the courts may not even realize is illegal these courts are locking up people with fines that have exploded in size

due to interest imposed on the initial amount and for the representation they had when they were in court which i always thought was supposed to be free but worst of all some are still in prison for fees they occurred while being in prison like having the audacity to use toilet paper hey that's taxpayer money down the toilet the kicker to this all is that throwing people in prison for their public debts costs more than the debts the prisoners have to pay off that's right the local governments lose money doing this someone please resurrect the founding fathers america is running out of time if you aren't worried about this comeback of debtors' prisons or you think those rednecks deserve it so let me ask you something how's it going with paying off all your loans and bills i hope for your sake you don't miss a payment a fascist my opinion. being built. stories others refuse to notice.

faces change the world writes now. a full picture of today's events long live on demand from around the globe. up to. fifty. spitzbergen is the starting point for expeditions to the north pole a little over a thousand kilometers away. early november there's next to no sunlight each day what little light remains continues to dim. in just ten days the sun will stop rising above the horizon altogether. along ought to know it will begin.