being asked to rack their brains and come up with the official mascot for the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics and paralympics in sochi the symbol will be chosen in a national competition that's about to get underway sean thomas is outside the games media center in los. it's certainly an unprecedented event it's the first time in olympic history that such an event has been open to so many and what i mean by that is the competition is open to any russian citizen living permanently within the country of russia and so anyone can join it's also going to be voted on in chosen by s.m.s. text voting by anyone in the country so it's the first time good with the mascot will be designed by someone just any random person in the country as well as chosen by the general public it's also significant in terms of the fact that this mosque this mascot will be the face of the olympics in twenty fourteen down in sochi so the race is on it to find that next person now also in terms of how many people can

enter anyone can enter in terms if they are a russian citizen and how many times can they enter pretty much as many times as they want so it begs the question if you look back in history to the one nine hundred eighty olympics there was me show the bear but now we have the winter olympics and so there are many people who are speculating whether or not another cute little furry creature chip brush got a fictional character from russia will be the next olympic mascot down in twenty fourteen it's significant for many reasons number one because it brings a general unity face to the olympics it's a character that people can identify with also there's a possibility of generating revenue in terms of the mascots their collector's pins their their their face that people can identify with you can have plush toys that are involved with it but generally it's a character that the entire country can rally around that everybody can get behind also it kind of brings up that olympic fever traditionally the mascot is announced

three years was actually presented three years before the sochi olympics so the winner of this competition will be presented in february of two thousand and eleven just three years before the sochi olympics begin. sean thomas there are still to come on r t the data summer school. the first day of school in moscow brings i think greater clarity i have details coming out of. president barack obama has made a live televised address to americans official end of combat operations in iraq he said the war is now a closed chapter and praised the u.s. military for helping to give iraq back to its people although combat soldiers have left iraq fifty thousand u.s. troops remain there to train your forces in his speech obama reiterated his pledge for full pull out in a year's time he also said it was all says will not be done on a stone for intensified operations against al qaida but he added that withdrawal

will follow their course president and turn to america's ailing economy saying restoring it is the country's most urgent task now listen we're director of the council for national interest says financial problems more americans the most. i suspect we're going to see the very partisan divisions that we're seeing too often these days. even he call for unity in his speech it was a patriotic speech you know extolled the virtues of the united states as every president always does so he sort of hit those notes the way you're supposed to do with the press and i think you think that the majority of people in this campaign dislike the kind of partisan bickering that we continue to seems to i think that part of the speech will go across. so i think they'll be mixed reactions i think republicans will see it a certain way and democrats will see it in the way and meanwhile the number of troops sent to afghanistan improves each did of course go on to talking about the

economy i think you want to switch it to that because of course that's what many americans are concerned about their so many people that have lost jobs here that have lost homes so the economy and its direct result from the war is a major factor here and i think he tried to discuss that and move in that direction and tried to give people the impression that something positive would be going with happening on that sphere again i think you'll find the democrats supporting him and the republicans best one of the goals of the president of course is to be a leader to make people feel confident that there are some that their nation is in good hands one of the important rules is to inspire people to certain actions and it is and sometimes of compassion so i think that was an element of his speech that he was trying to assume that important position and he may have six i think he probably succeeded with many people but i don't think he did succeed with everyone will be my guess. well meanwhile iraq remains in political deadlock after an

inconclusive election in march one insurgency continues to plague the country in the past week dozens of civilians have died in the wave of terror attacks baghdad based journalist and you know rosen who has chronicled the war says america's declared victory comes at a high price for the iraqi people they didn't get rid of saddam hussein at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives of iraqis millions of displaced tens of thousands of iraqis who are languished in american prisons years of their lives were lost the rock is destroyed shattered thirty desperate people of very poor living amidst trash during hours of checkpoints and desperately trying to obtain electricity so yes there are some freedoms. that exist now that didn't exist before but there's also a rocky say of democracy of death and random bombings and the freedom to die in the street so there's no way to say whether it was worth it and what strikes me every

day that i'm here is that a family i meet that hasn't had their men murdered kidnapped beheaded their families displaced not a family you meet hasn't been touched by the occupation the violence that came with it so while the american administration is celebrating its victory i think we should never forget the high cost of iraqis paid for this american victory and artie's military analyst says the shift of attention from iraq to afghanistan well into work till the u.s. sorts out the conflicting genders or its own agencies that. while the white house puts a spin on the rebranding of the u.s. combat forces in iraq the real drama regarding the u.s. policy is slowly unfolding in afghanistan it was richard holbrooke announced one year ago that the united states has to bend in any efforts to eradicate up in poppy fields in afghanistan what is really striking just recently the same broach has

been replicated regarding the fight against corruption the main logic among the u.s. decision makers who are trying to sabotage the general petraeus efforts in afghanistan is based on the false assumption that if you push too hard against the drug farmers or against the african politicians they will be driven into the hands of the taliban nowadays the us foreign policy in afghanistan is completely torn apart by the turf battles between the different american agencies on the one side the cia provides the political cover for its corrupted and drug infested assets on the other side they did a and if the i are doing their best trying to overcome the resistance from the afghan president also provides political cover and protection for he's warlords for his corrupted drug lords and cronies that's why the us

president doesn't have the luxury to wait till december for the us afghan policy review commemorations to mark six years since the beslan school siege have begun in russia's republic of north a city of more than three hundred died in the massacre by chechen militants who became the focus on russia's terrorism crackdown on seasonable piskun office in north the set yet in the town to post about the tragedy. it's a very sad day in this land today six years since the city's school number one became the scene of a truly horrific terrorist attack when this day is the first out of the three days of commemoration of events marking each day of the siege according to the unfortunate tradition people gather here at school number one bringing flowers and lighting up candles three hundred thirty balloons are going to be released into the air in accordance with the amount of victims of the attack and although six years have passed the events of those days and the emotions are still fresh in the

people's memories since that day six years ago. have been best friends although the prefer not to talk about what united them the nightmare which still makes them afraid of the first day of the school year. a man was killed why in front of children. his body lay there bleeding through the entire three days i think he used to work in the school both girls were going to the first grade but instead along with over a thousand other people they were held at gunpoint for three days by a group of armed men rigged with explosives. and were given this much water on the first day and that was a jewelry teacher all held in a terrifying ordeal which shocked the world several people were killed straight away many were forced to drink their own urine this place speaks for itself what's left of the school's gymnasium where most of the hostages were kept during the

three day long nightmare denied food and water with the pictures of the victims on the walls and the hundreds of the lawns of signs this room is still filled with grief and sorrow. on the third day of the siege around i'm shot is thought to have a lot of the terrorists explosions ring out and the shooting began special forces entered the building prepared to lead down their lives to see the children most of the terrorists were eliminated but by that time over three hundred innocent lives had been lost susanna diva son and niece were killed in the attack she now has the mothers of the salon committee an organization founded to ensure the memory of the tragedy is never for a garden with the site of the horror now a memorial at this school is it in this school changes people and their views on life they stopped looking at it from a different perspective. cherish. the

attack brought a huge international reaction with sympathy and help offered from around the world many of the survivors went through rehabilitation in other parts of russia and in europe but despite the brave battle for cover you for those whose lives changed forever that day it will be a long time before the first of september will once again be a celebration of the new school year echoing the children's laughter in this town you got going off our d. . in office. and to watch our special in-depth report on the beslan school siege later today. there conduced childhood was overshadowed by this tragedy. these two feel the fear they faced. and remember every second of this nightmare. it will remain in their memories and hearts forever. the town of anderson so.

innocent victims. of little angels on our cheek. would be soon which brightened if you only bounce from finest impressions. who threw stones on t.v. . more news today violence is once again flared up flew from these are the images the

world has been seeing from the streets of canada true for china corporations are all today. now let's check out some other news making headlines around the world this hour the militant wing of hamas says it was behind the killing of four israelis in the west bank including a pregnant woman two men and two women died when their car was fired on by gunmen in the city have grown up and down the illegal fresh peace talks taking place in washington the israeli and palestinian leadership condemn the shooting around three thousand people in gaza to the streets to celebrate. the years old be. collapsed trapping thirty three workers of lost for forgiveness of their hearing in front of rule makers the miners have been stuck seven hundred meters underground since beginning just drilling is underway to try and get them out could

take up to four months to complete and that's a specialist submitting a doctor nutritionist and psychologist are heading to the site. tens of thousands of children in pakistan are bearing the brunt of waterborne diseases that are spreading into severe flooding in the country officials say they were affected by a rise of cases of malaria from stagnant water and one hundred thousand pregnant women are also facing the risk of infection and disease the worst ever flooding in the country has claimed at least sixteen hundred nights with seventeen really affected in total. more than six thousand indonesian villages have returned to their homes on the slopes of them out some of them will know how to spot mornings that putting their lives at risk after a surprise eruption at the weekend which forced nearly thirty thousand residents to muzak away to safety will kind of been dormant for four hundred years and officials

admit they were not aware of the trees they take it. now millions of russian students are returning to school after three months summer holiday they're getting back down to work with feelings of enthusiasm and trepidation that they see officials in moscow piloting a scheme integrating disabled peoples into mainstream schools stacy givens i went along to one of the. what's going on right now is a ceremony able see a little bit of it behind me there was music playing earlier but now they're down a bit and what they're just talking and the kids are greeting their new teachers with flowers so it's a special time in their new faces among the crowd as moscow officially introduces its inclusive education which brings this able students and non-disabled students together officially now there's been some schools like the one behind me that have been doing this for a while the schools actually been integrating students for about six years but moscow is additionally starting to do it overall and this is based off of

a decision by the moscow city duma that passed a bill that said that there can be up to three church disabled students in a classroom but those numbers cannot exceed exceed ten percent of the overall student body if you take a look at at russia and moscow it's pretty difficult for people who are part of the stable community not only is it difficult to just get around in the streets but it's also difficult to just get integrated in the rest of society because there has been such a negative stigma but this program is meant to tackle that at an early age and at this school the kids don't just don't describe their students as disabled or non-disabled they're just regular students are not allowed to use those terms in the classroom so it's meant to help able bodied students to think about disabled students as regular people and to treat them with tolerance and respect and acceptance and also gives this able bodied students a chance to meet and to experience something that all kids want to be

a part of going to a regular classroom meeting friends playing having a teacher we talked to a family today and here's what they shared with us. i really want to go to school and i'm happy i can study now because so many schools refused to take me before just because i can't. work. worth around him or with their wanting to be more social to be independent and to get to do profession in the future. it was impossible to get all of the stools to start this integrated lessons this year but two hundred schools take it apart and students from far away outside of the mosque to be let city limits are coming in with the opportunity to have this kind of an educational experience but by next year all schools should be ready with the special grant and poised in order to have a more integrated classroom good stuff stephanie joins us now with

a business update on the international taking place in moscow and that's one of the standard to foreign carmakers have said russia could drop out of the doldrums. but some experts think this could have a impact on local brands i'll have more later on in the bulletin but now the top story about a may pretend has been visiting the city of new to see the town and to tour the country's biggest miner there as nicolas carney the subject of a battle for control. of bottom a ton and a head of into the two billion as each own twenty five percent of want to buy the. cretin noted that the conflict was damaging the company. but the government insists it will not force the issue it's always known it continues to operate successfully . the dispute appears to boil down to a difference of opinion about how the real cynical should be run and who should benefit the company's chief executive. describes the problem as he sees it.

to a difference in the interests. gradual development. to take everything there is more to come from and even when we get. the money out this may benefit shareholders right now but in the next years the company won't be able to develop. russo is adamant it will not sell up instead like that of pascoe says he will try to get minority shareholders to agree to appoint independent professionals to the board but the chief executive of known nicol left little doubt as to which shareholder he was favoring as he referred to the twenty nine percent drop in russo share prices the beginning of the year the company led by dr pascoe. since the beginning of the nickel has been the only company to increase the share price twenty three percent of us have

a negative dynamic the leader among them is the person you just interviewed with the twenty nine percent. the person who tells us how to work how to control our community he's the leader among the losers now whatever he says we listen to through the prism of a person who did not see in managing a company's success we have the world's always dividend was fifty percent seventy percent is the world's average and everyone is happy here and for some people fifty percent is not enough. and the. high on wednesday found think back from the previous sessions the losses are rising chinese manufacturing has given a small to investor sentiment better than expected g.d.p. growth in australia. china has also had a house of effect in the region. and for trade head. so father myself a few minutes close in the red on energy stocks. and ross telecom continue to

twenty three from monday to. three percent. russia second largest oil producer has announced net income for the second quarter fell sixteen percent to two billion dollars that's despite a strong rise in revenues the company says it was hit by taxes and costs which rise faster than the price of crude oil separately the company says it does not intend to buy back the entire six percent of it shuts from current philips speaking exclusively to. vice president biden explained why. we think that the purchase of almost eight percent of shares is enough to reduce the tension on the market and to assure that. if the company is interested in increasing its free flow. on the market. we are also looking at listing on one

of the asian markets in the future i think it's enough to ensure future stable and reliable company before. foreign carmakers at the moscow international like to show have checked to russia to drive the sales out of the economic downturn but experts warn success will come at the expense of domestic brands reports. joined jazz shows off the models in hopes to kickstart sales this year for the first time it's presenting no cause only bands. down it's called its main cause a song about on c h n it was january to june sales scraping one thousand amid reports so i was production line will be turned over to miss a these g.m. or told to cause the chairman of guesses he's no banking on these because there was my first focus is to make sure that we got sales are successful between now and the end of year total garcelle sales will be around seventy five thousand russia's

largest automaker after vies is gearing up to make calls for renault and nissan top analyst bill in a second numa told r.t. this moment the beginning of the end for the clunky loader brand leading to a joint toyota plant making only full remodels nissen's betting on a spurt in its own russian sales we will go on our fiscal year which is one of march up to one on one thousand dollars which small is a double of all of the before and well increasing the market share so it's sort of just such a section for us for the first time last month for in cause in russia out so the mistakes without radical redesign expert see the wheels coming off national produces russia will overtake germany if you're just come up as early as next year for the mind share that come from foreign cars meaning for domestic brands something the end of the road is approaching under bush altering. and

that's often the business scene for now but i'll be back with more few next hour and you can always find most stories on our website dot com slash business. wealthy british scientists i submit on the title. of

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today. the battle to create the best mascot for two thousand and fourteen games kicks off nationwide contest. time to turn the page. people focus and shift to. equal opportunities for all peoples in russia and the first time a pilot scheme to push. the school bus. more than three hundred people most of them.