we paid for the palestinians, and mahmoud abbas bought a new jet for $53 million. the prime minister of israel does not have his jet, but not with the boss has his jet -- mahmoud abbas has his jet that he bought three months ago. our problem today with the palestinians is not to help them, not to develop their economy, but to deal with corruption in their ministration. we draw our conclusions in this situation as we have today. we will try to compensate all of our losses, especially with our electricity company. we will respect all of our obligations, but it is not our duty to pay every month the mahmoud abbas apparatus. >> you will cut back. >> i am sure iran will pay all of his debts and for all of his problems, no doubt. >> a question from this side of the room which i have ignored. and wonder if he could get the microphone. >> thank you. my name is muhammed. i'm the ambassador of egypt. someone next to me at the table suggested it would be a good idea if i gave my own interpretation of the subjects the honorable minister has expressed. i think that would take a

pitifully -- particularly significant that mahmoud abbas is there. would you normally go, or is it just this year? >> he would normally go to the midnight mass. he makes a point of attending. we also have the palestinian prime minister there as well. a whole host of dignitaries. it is actually pretty hard to get a ticket because the church of the nativity is very small with a crypt at the back, and they pack them in. obviously, many people want to go. about 70,000 people will have visited bethlehem by the end of the day, and those numbers are down from last year by about 40,000 or so. so concerned about the economy and tourism here. you can see behind me a magnificent scene. bethlehem is good during the day, but it really comes to life at night. >> how does this compare to the rest of the year, because we have talked about how important it is to the rest of the economy. >> well, they do not stay long. i was speaking to a travel agent, and he said by christmas day, most of them will have left, particularly by boxing day. one of the complaints is that

mahmoud abbas. saying that we need to talk to the israelis but then he gets no results well under hamas it is fighting by force and yet least you know they feel that they get something not that they really do they get more violence but but in terms of the feelings. hamas has a lot of power as long as there is no peace so as soon as we make peace with a bus he will be much much stronger ok we have to leave it there front director of the settlement watch project at peace now working to promote a two state solution thank you for your time here on r.t. today thank you. well an independent panel has concluded its investigation into september's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi concluded that protests sparked by national movie are not behind the violence. in suggested it claims that systematic failures at the state department the highest security breaches findings have been backed by state hillary clinton on that dot com. also online today russia's president vladimir putin. a russian passpor

these are live pictures now from the west bank where triumphant of president mahmoud abbas has arrived after his victory in new york. egypt's power struggle spirals forces gather strength in a showdown of the draft constitution and the president's supreme authority. and watch this space there are more wiki leaks on the way. more ground shaking revelations next year as he talks exclusively to r.t. . you're watching our. carry johnston welcome to the program the palestinians moved a step closer this week to being fully recognized as independent u.n. voted to upgrade the station's diplomatic status to a nonmember observer state a middle east correspondent reports now on how the move may signal a change in the way the world sees israeli actions. it might have been a foregone conclusion but that didn't dampen the jubilation on the streets of palestine overwhelming support for upgraded palestinian state has to a nonmember observer state in the un one hundred thirty eight voting in favor nine against forty one abstentions it's an important political and legal victory to hold israel accountabl

mahmoud abbas, while he was with yasser arafat said officially and publicly and officially that he wasagainst terror when arafat was conducting terror against the state of israel. so i think abbas was the best possible partner for a peace agreement. he and p.m. fayyad were doing many dramatic changes in the way that the administration of the palestinians is handled in the west bank which are very positive much beyond what most people anticipated that they could do. so they have to get credit and i think they are moderate and terror leaders that want to make peace with the state of israel and they are the natural partners and we have to work with them rather than fight with them and i think that the punishment of not giving the money so we collect for them is another mistake that we are unfortunately making for no good reason. hamas received from qatar $450 million as a gift and abu mazen, mahmoud abbas and fayyad, the prime minister, for monies that belong to them. why do we do it as a punishment? because they went to the united nations. they went unilaterally to the united nations. th

it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed in the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel wants it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv perspective on this now and talk to former intelligence officer mary i know that the interdisciplinary center of private college and israel there evening to you i mean to me it seems blindingly obvious on what you think what point is israel trying to make with its decision to continue building settlements immediately after the u.n. vote. well it's kind of funny if you think of it from the israeli point of view should not have been a joyous d

today, you have not only the tension between mahmoud abbas but between young and old generations. it is clear despite the resolutions in the un, if abbas will move for elections, he will lose the election. >> would you be pleased to see them have an election? >> i think the key is the economy. these disparities, the economy, it is the main reason for. you must understand the biggest problem in the arab world for the palestinians come up the middle class does not exist. the backbone of a very stable country, democratic countries, prosperity is it the existence of the middle-class. what you have and egypt is a disparity between a very rich oligarch. the problems of what you have in europe, the most successful countries like switzerland, norway, 90% is a successful middle-class. they must develop the middle class. it is impossible to build a democratic country, a tolerant country that is ready to coexist. >> you cannot move to scandinavia. that is not one of the options for israel. let me ask you this question. as opposed from lurching from conference to conference, when you think ov

he gave the midnight mass attended by palestinian president ma motte ab-- mahmoud abbas. >> more than 40 people were killed by fighting to replace western unless with islamic ideology. we have more from nigeria's capital. >> time has not numbed her pain. her four caught thes were among 44 people killed in a suicide killing last christmas. >>> christmas now is a celebration of sorrow for me. that's what comes to my mind knowing that i have lost my four daughters. >> the attack is believed to have been carried out by a radical group to create instability in the country. they are said to have killed thousand s of people in the last three years. security force here's are having a hard time stopping them. it has created a climate of fear and suspicion among nigerians. her daughters and 18 others are buried here at the church. it is a place of sadness. they can only hope the attacklers not target them again. >> we have a proverb that says it doesn't strike twice. there must be a reason. we're feeling it at a home more than other people. we have tasted it and experienced it. it is very diffi

. >> palestinian leader mahmoud abbas got a hero's welcome in the west bank town of ramallah today after winning a vote in the united nations to upgrade the palestinian status to observer state. that move did come at a price. today israel halted the transfer of $120 million in tax revenues to the palestinian authority. >> coming up, the recipe for the all-american kitchen. >> it's a commonly heard sentiment, buy american. the logic that it will spur demand in job growth at home. but as sharyl attkisson shows us it's not always as easy as it sounds. >> reporter: kitchen remodels can be daunting. but when eva decided to fix up her charleston home she added an extra challenge. >> everything from now on i'm going to put in my kitsch sen going to be american made. >> reporter: that was good news for the owners of dna cabinet work the local cabinetry company, they use regionally sourced wood and made to order. >> most people just go into lows and pick a cabinet and go with it. >> reporter: in the last seven years adam and dustin have only seen their business grow thanks in part to customers wh

it was little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed on the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it's now turns out he was wrong and whether israel once it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv. egypt's supreme court has postponed ruling on the legitimacy of the panel that draft of the country's new constitution of the. several thousand supporters of president morsi prevented the judges from entering the building by sea has set the date for a referendum on the charter for two weeks time and made harsh criticism from opponents who claim the draft undermines basic democratic freedoms but is tom barton reports now from current. unrest re

. >> palestinian president mahmoud abbas returning home to a hero's welcome after a big win at the united nations in new york city. u.n. voting overwhelmingly to accept a palestinian state in the west bank, the gaza strip, and east jerusalem as a non-member observer state. united states among those voting against the resolution. abbas telling the thousands gathered in ramallah that this is a historic achievement for palestine. he said he hopes the u.n. bid will help restart frozen peace talks with israel. but it is refusing to negotiate so long as israeli settlement construction continues. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying peace talks must resume immediately, but without preconditions. netanyahu also announcing a decision to build 3,000 more homes in the west bank. a tragedy in kansas city. nfl linebacker jovan belcher fatally shooting his girlfriend and mother of his daughter, kasandra perkins. afterward, belcher shooting himself in front of coaches outside the team's training facility. despite the shock, the chiefs winning their game just one day later. what better way to

it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed on the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel once it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv but earlier israeli college lecturer mary told me the thursday as you would move was directed against israel. the majority of israelis including this government by the way have stated clearly that they'd like to see palestine independent and both of us understand that there is a difference between saying palestine independent and doing it on your own with the united nations without israel as a partner as if saying that the impediment is just

poxy reindeer yes and apparently mahmoud abbas he was asked what tony blair does for the palestinian territories he said nothing nothing nothing big fat piece of coal that's a nice poem right there nothing nothing nothing from tony blair again you like to rip everyone off and put it in comic square. that's right live in those i know the u.s. embassy right here in london it makes that simple simple a state conic square bungalow in bunker plots is not a ripoff but back to these poverty barons one of the top poverty barons of the u.k. . from adam smith international the managing director of the london based development consultancy adam smith international a s i which gets most of its income from deficient paid himself a salary and dividends totaling almost one point three million pounds in twenty ten adam smith insisted it's another one of these oxymoron like military intelligence that you would think therefore balance marking free markets but no they're just a front group for scam stars they like to go with the idea that they're for free market enterprise but when you scratch the surfa

welcome back palestinian president mahmoud abbas has returned home to cheers from supporters after he won the de facto stated recognition from the un the mood though wasn't mirrored in israel which promptly shut down cash flow to the region israel collects around one hundred million dollars in taxes and customs duties which goes directly to the palestinians but that will now be used to pay their substantial debts to israeli companies earlier israel also announced further settlement expansion the palestinians un upgrade doesn't change the situation on the ground but allows the autonomy access to international organizations to challenge israel's actions earlier israeli academic middle east and told my colleague kevin zero in that statehood should be achieved through peace talks. the majority of israelis and . in the sky every move by the way has stated clearly that they'd like to see palestine independent both of us understand that there's a difference between saying palestine independent and doing it on your own with the united nations without israel as a partner as if saying that the

it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the u.n. in a. good for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed on the watcher's of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his right wing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel wants it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv. well the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says the palestinians you need that forbid at the u.n. peace negotiations but palestinian government spokesman no odor blames israeli territory expansion for the lack of a solution. the current israeli government on the political scene right now in israel seems to be a lot more interested in investing in the occupation by way of constructing illegal supplements and more bypass r

the palestinian president mahmoud abbas treading very carefully right now or if he refrained from criticizing amasses actions because he's striving for unity with the mass is it possible for him to actually bridge that gap. the question should be raised to both parties to hamas and to fire till now all the efforts really failed i think it's a fatal mistake for the palestinian cause the palestinian are so divided about at least the rhetorical the last days sounds a little more promising and there is a chance for unification reunification but there were still very low. look at the israeli side of it and it's apparent that the only thing that's really changed so far since the u.n. general assembly upgraded palestine is israel's decision to expand its settlements which has been widely condemned israel concerned about its apparent growing isolation. not enough. is. who is israel if it's the israeli public opinion it doesn't seem to be. very troubled by the un resolution and by the fact that israel saw isolated there and also about the government as long as the united states continues to support an

it was little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed in the watcher's of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel wants it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv. where u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says the palestinians need to be persuaded talks are the only way forward but human rights activist steve hein believes settlement expansion is not the right path towards dialogue and peace. i say it's very important when the u.s. calls these certain expansions illegal when they call them counterproductive we should be using the word illegal because that's very clearly what this act is a further t

over a dozen countries does the group have a chance of expanding its pall over palestine despite mahmoud abbas's recent triumph at the u.n. . i'm not sure that. the un is all that i think the fact that. now palestinians are actually close to getting back to a one state solution abbas goes and seeks a two state solution again but what today's today tomorrow is tomorrow these are just words today good words i think that michelle made in a speech. but we also have to realize this is not entirely a hamas victory there were other palestinian participants involved the palestinian would you hired the popular front for the liberation of palestine how mass was in you know as good as things look today how much also has the difficulties that needs to overcome they are being pulled by two sides of sort of the real. political line to make a choice to choose a side and and it's going to be a rough road ahead so actions are going to definitely count louder than words for hamas and what they do not just today or tomorrow but in the coming months will count the moment they start to look like become you know too

it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed on the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with his role it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel once it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv. tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of egypt this week in rival rallies by for and against president morsi and in the islamist back to draft constitution morsi has set the date for a national referendum on the chart of fifteen weeks time amid harsh criticism from opponents who claim the draft undermines basic democratic freedoms. brings us this report from kyra. unrest returns to the streets after the revolution that topp

it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed on the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his right wing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel wants it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv. egyptians are supposed to decide on their new constitution in two weeks but if this week is anything to go by it won't be easy there was widespread anger as the president granted himself sweeping new powers the supreme court judges couldn't rule on that just in a sea of the draft charter after supporters of mohamed morsi stop them getting into the chamber where the court has now suspended its work indefinitely in protest what is tom barton

this statehood bid was a risky proposition by the palestinian president mahmoud abbas who hoped to forceestart, failed peace talks. >> we tonight have a good feeling about it. this is our only hope. if anything goes wrong, everything will go bad. >> here, bad is very bad. there is talk of a third inthe fa da. another popular uprising take form of mask protest. rock throwing and attacks on the israeli check points which could easily turn birthplace of christ to ghost town. even on christmas. doug? >> doug: virt virt in the not so little -- leland vittert in the not so little town of bethlehem. >> may he grant israelis courage to embarrass resolutely on the path of negotiation. >> this is the pope's eighth christmas. every year he delivers a christmas greeting in 60 languages. >>> there is no peace in syria. fierce fighting continues as rebels have another victory, capturing a town in northern part of country near the border with turkey. rebel forces surrounded the town for week, before making the final push today. the government forces steadily have been losing criminal of territory in th

meanwhile, in the last few hours the palestinian president mahmoud abbas arrived in ramallah from the u.n. vote in new york. he received there a hero's welcome. there were thousands and thousands in the main square outside the government offices. many held up the picture, balloons, the palestinian flag. abbas told the crowd and i quote "palestine achieved historic achievement at the united nations." meanwhile, the palestinians celebrated, israeli settlement construction on the west bank continued today. in response to the u.n. vote, israel said it was planning for additional construction in the same area where the pict the actual work, that could be years away. government gave green light for construction of 3,000 units in east jerusalem and elsewhere on the west bank. weekly cabinet meeting today prime minister benjamin netanyahu dismissed criticism of the settlement construction saying and i quote, "we will carry on building in jerusalem and in all areas on the map of israel strategic interest." if israel proceeds with the settlement plans the palestinians say it is going to make it

palestinian president mahmoud abbas says the security council should pressure israel to stop expanding settlements. >> we have communicated with both the un and un security council on this issue. we want to follow up on this. not just in the e1, but all settlement activity. clearly, israel doesn't want to reach peace. >> while the settlement expansion have affected five other countries and their ambassadors, the obama administration has offered a tepid response, calling it counterproductive. >> i want to remind you, on building settlements in jerusalem are in accordance with israeli law. if anyone wants to investigate further, they can go to the bush letter and see on the changes in the territory which the u.s. president spoke of. >> the white house is denying iran's claim of having captured a u.s. drone in iranian airspace. iran says that they captured a scaneagle aircraft conducting surveillance. speaking at the white house, press secretary jay carney rejected those claims. >> we have no evidence that the iranian claims you cite are true. i would refer you to the pentagon's comments

cheers and applause ] >>> yes to the state of palestine, the words spoken by palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, upon his return to cheering crowds in palestine. the united nations general assembly thursday voted to accept palestine as a nonmember observer state. president abbas sees the move as a key step toward palestinian independence. only nine countries opposed the vote, including the united states and israel. friday, date after the vote, israel announced construction plans for some 3,000 new homes in israeli settlements on the west bank and in east jerusalem as well. at today's israeli cabinet meeting, prime minister benjamin netanyahu said quote we will carry on building. i want to bring in former senate majority leader, george mitchell. senator mitchell, president clinton's special envoy to northern ireland and served as two years as president obama's special envoy to middle east peace. thank you for stopping by. israel's announcement of increased settlement construction, criticized kbi the white house as quote counterproductive. france, great britain and the eu also criticized. >> the

mahmoud abbas was among those in the crowd at the 1700-year-old church. >> this is the time of year whener that god sent his only son to serve, not to be served. it is my prayer this christmas day -- >> in great britain the queen he's christmas message was quite different this year. for the first time it was actually broadcast in 3-d, clearly a sign of times. when her grandfather began the christmas day practice 80 years ago, there was no tv. >>> snow, ice, tornadoes, triple threat. much of the nation this christmas. snow already falling across parts of arkansas and oklahoma. the arkansas highway and transportation department is warning drivers to stay off the roads if they can. in oregon rescue crews have safely located a group of hikers who had been lost in snowy conditions since sunday. 20 searchers used specialized vehicles and skis to scour parts of mt. hood. the three say they are lucky, lucky to be alive. >> we spent the night on the floor, on the snow in the snow cave with just the clothes on our backs. >> hikers were united with their families yesterday just in time for christma

people like mahmoud abbas, you discourage them, so you take the swing vote among palestinians and push them towards hamas. does not bother you and did she feel guilty? that the first question. the second question is right now there's a lot of forces in the world. israel needs friends in the world. don't you think is her would gain more friends in the struggle against how dangerous it ran as. i completely agree how dangerous iran and mockler, danish artist. what mccain is your more friends if you stop loving friends in the west bank. those are my two questions. >> okay, i will do it this way. i do not feel guilty. on the contrary, it is very important to speak up and say you're talking about abu mazen went and signed an agreement with the hamas. he decided to what together with hamas. we can not come to ask israeli, i'm not the radical forces. unfortunately today you feel even abu mazen cannot go into gaza because if you go to gaza today, no one can guarantee you will be so out of gaza. it is much deeper than what we think it's about i hope one day we have the force to elect a different

hours ago mahmoud abbas got a hero's welcome. 35,000 people rallied and he said what happened in the u.n. was an historic achievement and it would strengthen united. they supported the vote but refuses israel's right to existed. now, the leadership is inviting the moderate party of the palestinian president to join their efforts in what they term the armed resistance. israel settlement construction on the west banks conned in response to the u.n. vote. it said it was now planning for additional construction in this very same area. but the actual new work could be years away. additionally the government also gave the green light to construction of 3,000 other units in east jerusalem and elsewhere on the west bank. at the weekly cabinet meeting, benjamin netanyahu dismissed criticism of the settlement construction, saying, quote. we will carry on building in jerusalem and all places on the map of israel's strategic interests if the settlement plans proceed, palestinians say they will destroy any chance of a viable state. just a while ago secretary general says the plans is what he term

here's palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas at the united nations. >> we did not come here seeking to delegitimize a state established years ago. and that is israel. rather, we came to affirm the legitimacy of a state that must now achieve its independence, and that's palestine. >> we're joined from ramallah in the west bank. what does this u.n. vote mean? some thought it was symbolic, but it seemed to me much more than that. >> absolutely. it's more than a symbol, although the symbolism is very important to us. but the thing is this is a recognition of our determination. this is a recognition of the palestinians as a nation with a right to their own statehomo, and tlr, we're under the protection of international law. our land is occupied. it is not disputed, and therefore israel doesn't have a free hand to an annex, to chan the ground unilatry and so on. that's one thing. two, that provides us with access to all sorts of international organizations, to treaties and conventions, to bilateral relations. access to even venues for accountability and judicial accountable. it gives us s