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tv   Headline News  RT  December 31, 2013 8:00pm-8:31pm EST

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coming up on our t.v. morning involved rod in the last two days the major russian city has seen a series of terrorist bombings as the funerals begin for the victims president vladimir putin valves to annihilate the criminals behind the attacks the latest from the scene ahead and what are the new stories you missed in twenty thirteen from bradley manning to get mo our t. has covered many of the stories that other news networks seem to overlook coming up we'll break down this year's most under-reported news and goodbye mayor bloomberg new york's nanny state mayor will soon be out of office but he will not leave without of bang or should i say ban from the cigarettes to sugary big gulps we'll take a look at the bans that will define his decade in office. it's
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tuesday december thirty first time a mirror david in washington d.c. and you're watching our t.v. and we begin this hour with the blast that have rocked ball gras just ahead of the twenty fourteen olympic games such a take place in russia police have detained dozens of people in an anti-terrorism operation involving the southern city where two suspected suicide bombings killed more than thirty people and injured over one hundred more the death toll of the attacks has been increasing after some of those who were wounded have now died from their injuries the two deadly attacks in volgograd have intensified fears over the threat of terrorism in russia which coincides with a threat earlier this year from a chechen extremist group who has pledged to wreak havoc in the country artie's margaret howell is in volgograd and has the latest on this tragedy. it is tense it's also very somber the traffic seems to me moving more slowly and i was able to
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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 an uneasy night for residents of russia's southern city of boulder god 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. with barely contained tears. clutches to the memory of his son who was the victim of sunday's attack at the train station. sergei was a security guard. job for about a year i saw 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
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barely made it towards him and then there was a blast and it was over there gaze family mourned 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. 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 money. i was shocked to have a family and a small child it's very sad to realize that a young man died in such a tragic incident pollution. stories like these two are poring over all the great
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city limits with the residents there hoping for more time to mourn their family and friends and rebuild their lives in volgograd margaret hello r t. and following the blast russian president vladimir putin has responded he has vowed to quote annihilate terrorists referring of course to those who orchestrated two bomb attacks in the country in less than twenty four hours his new year's eve remarks were the first public comments he's made since the suicide attack that took place on sunday. piskun up 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 you to put more of the things he talked about spoke about the challenges that russia had to face in two thousand and thirteen including the two leaders terror attacks in the volga and the president forces which just condolences to the families of the victims pledged to provide all
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the necessary support and help and also promised to continue fighting terrorists until they are completely defeated that argue the difference. of the ceilings of these are true issues. the rigorous you can see if you didn't find terrorists ready until they are fully defeated what you. 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 now is our t.v. corpus going up reporting. and while some stories this year got quite a bit of attention because outlets simply left out but just because they were left out doesn't mean they're not important and that's why our tease liz wahl is taking a look back at some of the most significant under reported stories we've covered
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this year. this year's top stories get to the heart of critical issues like privacy government transparency and government overreach as two thousand and thirteen comes to a close we want to take a look back now at seven of the most important stories we covered that others have underreported or missed altogether we start with the tragic story of an internet icon whose life and they had way too soon aaron swartz was a renowned computer programmer and internet rights activist he was a frequent guest on our t.v. where he shared his vision for a free open internet so what it is it's sort of a patriot act for the internet that allows the government to go to providers like facebook and google and so on and ask them for data without a warrant which is crazy is to say oh the laws unclear you might be breaking it all is going to do is throw you all in jail seize all the data shut down the entire website take all of your money and then have the decision about whether what you did isn't legal and. last january fourth so his own life at the time he faced
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federal charges for hacking into an mit computer network and allegedly stealing millions of academic documents the charges carry a possible sentence of thirty five years. when. hacked a poorly written criminal law called him a dangerous criminal common sense and conscience knows better. and we are going to change unjust law. family members of the labor force say facing federal charges contributed to his death his suicide highlighted the issue of prosecutorial overreach. now to the head store except more long trial of chelsea manning formerly known as bradley the army private was accused of the largest leak of classified information in military history he was found guilty
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of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret files to the whistle blowing web site wiki leaks mainstream media coverage of the trial was sparse but our he was for me to maryland where the court martial played out every step of the way. proceeded towards really shortage which was aiding the enemy for a simple way of providing information to use germany the military judge found manning not guilty of that aiding the enemy charge the guilty on most other charges he is now serving a sentence of thirty five years and speaking of internet freedom it's something our next top news maker continues to fight for julian assad to the co-founder of wiki leaks remains holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london this december marks three years since he's been detained in the u.k. if he steps foot outside of that embassy so likely be extradited to sweden there he
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faces questions over alleged sexual misconduct but he and his supporters fear he'll ultimately be extradited to the united states and charged under the espionage act for publishing government secrets on his web site. i'll onto our next top story the ever expanding use of drones in the wars abroad back in may president obama addressed the secret drone campaign. before any strike is taken there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured the highest standard we can. but this year unprecedented scrutiny on capitol hill over the effects of innocent civilians being killed and drone strikes in yemen in pakistan and questions over the program doing more harm than good as people demand answers and accountability. and speaking of secretive programs a large scale hunger strike at guantanamo bay brought attention to the plight of
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prisoners who have been detained there indefinitely at the height of the strike over one hundred inmates refused food to protest u.s. policies that have kept them behind bars as their health deteriorated many of them were force fed. a tube is passed down through a person's nostril and pushed all the way down to their stomach before it's passed on the nose we lubricated and we give the patient a choice do they want to have one of the key which is the agent to numb the area or if they want all of will salute their tube. of the military announced the end of the hunger strike and september the six month protest led to a revived the global focus on closing the base over the past the earl levin detainees have been transferred out president obama has renewed his vow to shut down but how and when that will happen is unclear. now to the tragedy in boston and
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april the boston marathon turned into a deadly massacre when two bombs exploded near the finish line killing three people and injuring dozens of others. one suspect was killed in a police shootout the other captured and facing the death penalty but there's a curious twist in the story that has gotten very little coverage our friend of the boston bomber your game dash of was shot to death by authorities in florida he was being questioned over his really his relationship to the bombing suspects are he caught up with a grieving father that said his son had no ties to the crime the pictures you are seeing are disturbing. or or five shots right into the heart i've never seen things like this even in the movies not in the u.s. not in russia no where. so much violence from law enforcement nowhere have they seen anything like this if you're going to go in and rounding out our top stories
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we turn to the saga of genetically modified foods agricultural giants like monsanto affect everything from the food that we eat who where our tax dollars go to the success or demise of local farmers this year we. so strong opposition to genetically modified foods but not strong enough to beat the massive lobbying dollars behind corporations like monsanto a bailout initiative to get g.m. most labeled failed in washington but labeling advocates say the fight is not over and in the coming year will fight to get g.m.o. those labels and other states and of eventually on a federal level so there you have it seven stories we've followed up close and in depth we'll be sure to keep an eye on how they develop in twenty four teams and washington liz wahl. much of the news that dominated latter half of two thousand and thirteen dealt with one man and one agency of course that refers to former
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government contractor edward snowden and the national security agency twenty thirteen will forever mark the year that snowden unleashed massive amounts of information regarding the n.s.a.'s controversial surveillance programs all with the hope of initiating a very important debate in this country r.t. political commentator sam fax takes a look back on the year of snowden. june fifth a bombshell report the guardian's glenn greenwald has secret documents revealing how the n.s.a. is collecting the phone records of millions of arising customers two days later june seventh the washington post barton gellman working with filmmaker lawyer portress follows up with a mother huge story three top secret program known as prism the n.s.a. is also digging into the internet data repast tori's at major tech companies the n.s.a. is surveilling both our telephone and internet communications on a scale unimaginable before this directly contradicts a claim made months earlier under oath by the director of national intelligence james clapper does the n.s.a.
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collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans. no sir two days later on june ninth a former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden comes forward as the source of the recent n.s.a. stories he's left the united states and is in hong kong he says he's a whistleblower and he's handed over his trove of evidence to journalists the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong snowden is later forced to hide out in russia as over the next six months the world's newspapers begin publishing the n.s.a.'s and g.c.a. chuse most closely guarded secrets dragnet surveillance on entire foreign populations targeted surveillance on diplomats and world leaders including key allies the black budget of the u.s. intelligence agencies the deliberate tapping of under seize fiber optic cables a commitment to breaking in corruption standards we also learned that the n.s.a. has secretly hacked into google and yahoo is data links barton gellman calls this
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the most explosive story and it's a was breaking into the data links the private cleone the links between for example to google data centers this one in finland and one in. and they are intercepting the data as it crosses there and they're intercepting that in very large numbers to collecting for example hundreds of millions. email address books that was a shocker for me in it and very much so for the industry and despite repeated assurances from the white house on the spot of internal n.s.a. documents and pfizer court documents reveal how the n.s.a. broke privacy rules thousands of times every year in congress there was a revolt against the spy agency we're here to answer one question for the people we represent do we oppose the suspicion this collection of every american's phone records in the summer the house of representatives comes within just a few votes of defunding the n.s.a.'s bulk records collection program despite the defeat n.s.a. reformers are emboldened a flurry of legislation drops to rein in the n.s.a.'s powers the courts get slammed
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with lawsuits from groups like the a.c.l.u. and the electronic frontier foundation one federal judge calls the program likely unconstitutional but less than two weeks later another federal judge upholds the program the supreme court looms in the white house admits the president orders an independent review panel which later comes out with forty six specific recommendations to reform the n.s.a. if you had asked me six months ago as we were about to launch into this enterprise whether after half a year there would still be an intense global conversation that was picking up momentum i think here and it i would have said probably not and so heading into two thousand and fourteen change in some form is almost certainly coming to the n.s.a. and with all three branches of government now weighing in and drawing similar conclusions that the n.s.a. has overstepped its bounds edward snowden becomes the whistleblower he said he was all law six months ago he took on the most powerful office in the land and as the
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year winds down he's declaring victory saying he's already won who knows if snowden will ever be able to leave russia but so did never one of the story to be about him he wanted it to be about the n.s.a. and when it comes to that story snowden is no longer in control the journalists are and they're promising more revelations edward snowden is not guiding the story as he handed over its. a number of documents to me in two other reporters six months ago he told us he hoped that we would use their own judgment has not tried and would not succeed in telling us what to publish what not to publish. and i'm going to keep at it for a while that's about all i think i want to say in washington d.c. same sucks. believe it or not we are now at the end of two thousand and thirteen it's been a monumental year to say the least this year we saw huge advancements on the plate for same sex marriage and the aftermath of a chemical gas attack we saw president obama threaten a u.s. strike on syria and most recently we saw the death of former south african
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president and international icon nelson mandela but while it's important to reflect on the events that have defined that this past year in history it's equally important to look forward so to talk about what we can expect next year and twenty fourteen artie's on a stasia churkin i sat down with gerald cilento he's the publisher of the trends journal and the founder of the trends research institute take a look we're sitting down with trans caster gerald celebrity to discuss the year ahead twenty fourteen what lays ahead socially economically politically gerald thank you very much for having us today while you are saying in your forecast that twenty fourteen is going to be year of extremes from what i've read kind of tough hardships walking hand in hand with more inner and light moment of sorts so let's talk a little bit about that what do you mean how is this going to represent itself in real life we'll look at the extremes going on right now who would have thought what was going on in thailand would be going on and continue to go on as hundreds of
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thousands of people are out in the streets go into the ukraine go over to romania take a look what's going on over in syria and in libya look at the reskilling on throughout haiti with the pitchfork movements. in spain around the world i've never seen so much volatility one time in so many different ways and then you start looking and you pile on the economic news it's not getting any better anywhere the only thing has gotten better for is that one percent tons of people are talking about including yourself in terms of what to expect in the nearest future is another huge wave of an economic mess exactly when the economic calamity have what and where is this coming from this time and how can people just prepare themselves for it i mean what do we do ron and you know. i
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would have thought it would have happened before as interest rates go up the fake a con and he goes down you know you look like the kind of person you could use a new automobile oh you don't have any credit don't worry about it call this number i have a deal see you we're going to give it you had zero percent that's right step right up no money down zero percent you don't have to worry about anything so it is doing is they've created another bubble yes but shouldn't people be not surprised because this is exactly what happened in two thousand and eight so do you think people are falling into the same exact trap again too i think they're falling into it look at automobile debt it's almost at a trillion dollars of course this falling into it again it's the same scam you mentioned people taking governments back will people ever be able to take their privacy back or that's it and the stain age we just accept it move on and this is
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something that we're just going to have of course it could come back who these people say that they should be taking it away from us everything. that the republicans and the democrats are doing in the united states is diametrically opposed to everything that this country was founded upon but how does one fix that i mean with such a scope and such unprecedented information coming out that all of this is going on how do people move for very everybody is upset but what and it's very simple you're seeing it in country after country to me the model that exists that everyone all they have to look at to see if you want to see something work you look at the fall of the berlin wall the people didn't leave they went out and they never left i have a slogan by the way stay home don't vote why would i want to vote for one of the
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corrupt parties for getting all excited about the upcoming elections will it be hillary clinton or will it be christie will it be biden will it be ryan will it be larry mo or curly will it be avodah castelo what self respecting person could look up to these people and there are a lot of people that are ready for a change to happen and i believe it's starting to happen when people lose everything and have nothing left to lose they lose it gerald in your forecast for the next year you also talk about the wake up call for politicians so who is going to be that person or that entity or that voice that brings about the change or this is really radical ensure matic direct democracy like they have over in switzerland you want to go to war let the people vote you want your money going to foreign
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countries let the people vote do you want to bail out banks of financial institutions let the people vote. it's direct democracy and then age people say the first reaction why we have mob rule yeah we see god now you want to talk about a mob we have a gang of five hundred thirty five senators and congressmen telling three hundred fifteen million people how to tie their shoes with direct democracy were anything's better than the corrupt system they have now that was gerald celente publisher of the trends journal. and mayor michael bloomberg will officially leave office today after more than a decade as mayor of new york city but even though he's on his way out he won't be living leaving without a legacy and one part of that legacy will be defined by his reputation as the king of big bans bloomberg initiated bans on everything from the cigarettes to big gulp
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so does for a look back on more of those blacklisted goods here's our tease parian boring new york city mayor michael bloomberg is shutting his office door in city hall for the last time today to some the mayor of legacy will be remembered as an advocate for public health others say he's launched an attack on civil liberties i'll take a look back at some of the mayor's blacklisting highlights. in two thousand to causing massive public uproar mayor bloomberg told everyone to put their butts out for good and restaurants and bars during his third term that ban extended to most outdoor areas and building entrances this year new york also became the first major city to forbid the sale of tobacco to anyone under twenty one continuing with the trend of the freedom to smoke electronic cigarettes have gone up in flames to the mayor amended to smoke free air act on monday stating that anywhere traditional cigarette smoking is banned the same rights are as well and as last few days in
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office bloomberg also placed the flammable plastic pollo styrene on the public health blacklist is now illegal to sell or provide styrofoam products including restaurant to go containers and packing peanuts christmas will never be the same for this perfect kitten who turned to the devastating pollutant into a holiday confetti floor decoration bloomberg banned stretched from bad containers to the bad food restaurants put in them in two thousand and six the big apple led the nation and doing away with artificial trans fats and november the food and drug administration followed suit announcing requirements to eventually phase out trans fats nationwide and we would be remiss if we didn't highlight the mayor's attempt to remove big gulp a soda right out of the mouths of thirsty new york residents before. i think about the city. over a court ruled that the city's health board exceeded its rights with this ban so for
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now anyway you can still buy your big gulp and drink it to one fight michael bloomberg did when it was back in two thousand and eight when he required restaurants to include calorie counts on their menus no longer could new yorkers consume an ignorant bliss and just in case if these vans made anyone crazy mayor bloomberg also banned the sale of assault rifles and banana clips during his time in office. that's just a brief summary of mayor bloomberg blacklisting highlights his opponents say he ran a nanny state but bloomberg says it's about putting public health first i will walk out of office knowing that whether you agreed or disagreed with me i always made decisions based on the merits and we always put the needs of future generations ahead of their man's of today's special interest groups either way bloomberg is out today and it's now up to build a blog zero to regulate the new york citizenry and washington d.c. perry and boring r.t.
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tonight's resident takes a look at how mit researchers are developing a drug to combat p.t.s.d. however one of the side effects is that this drug could mess up your metabolism and your thinking take a look. we make a lot of drugs here in the u.s. and now researchers at mit are working on a new one to a vaccine to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder or p.t.s.d. the vaccine one to raise the memories of the traumatic event it would just stop the vaccinated person from having bad health effects from the trauma almost two hundred
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fifty thousand soldiers have been affected by p.t.s.d. from fighting in afghanistan and iraq since two thousand and one so researchers are thinking that the vaccine would be great to give to soldiers so they won't develop p.t.s.d. after you know blowing people's heads off the way the vaccine works is by messing around with a hormone produced in the stomach called a growl and you get a shot and then every viewer that shot would lower your growing levels while they were conducting experiments researchers noticed that when they blocked the receptors for growl and the fear was reduced so the vaccine blocks rowen and that would in turn block the vaccinated person susceptibility to develop p.t.s.d. when they experienced trauma but here's the thing your stomach produces grounded for a reason it acts as a neuromodulation that stimulates appetite and also enhances aspects of cognitive function according to the director of the neuroendocrinology lab at rockefeller
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university blocking growl and could make people an r.x. sick and also mess up a person's physiology and lots of other weight. so the fact they might be. the believe blocky from getting p.t.s.d. when you blow someone's head off but it also might mess up your metabolism and your thinking in other words it's another example of us creating a medication with potentially grave side effects and it's another example of us creating another medication designed to treat symptoms rather than fixing the root of the problems themselves the medication is designed to deal with the feelings you have about traumatic events instead of having us deal with stopping the traumatic events in the first place which is perfect because in america we want to blow other people's heads off and then just take a pill so we won't be traumatized by it it's better living through chemistry at least for us medicated zombies here in america sorry rest of the world we're
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currently not working on a pill to help you with the stress of getting your head blown off by or soldiers tonight let's talk about that by following me on twitter at the resident. does it for now i'm a mirror david have a very happy and safe new year. old . technology innovation all the developments around. the future are covered. and. plus i was a new alert.

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