to compete at the top level still have an opportunity to win olympic gold returns to design the official mascots for the two thousand and fourteen winter games in sochi is being thrown open across the country in a contest that's just got underway and thomas joins us now from outside the base media center in moscow sure how's it going to spain laid out. well it's an unprecedented event kerry in fact it's the first time in olympic history that this competition has been open to the public really and it's also open to so many in fact any russian living in russia is eligible for this competition and it's also the first time that such a competition will be chosen by the public as well in fact be eligible participants can choose their designs s.m.s. text message and the winner will be announced in february just three years to the date to be in sochi kick off now there have been some unofficial mascots that have

already started to gain some popularity in fact the city of sochi back in march announced a design of a dolphin on skis that's that's one fan favorite also a national hero a much beloved. who is also already the official mascot of the russian national team is also a possibility that is come up and popped up as an unofficial mascot another unofficial mascot as well a couple others have been an octopus and a mammoth but these are just some of the designs officially back in one thousand nine hundred two the first olympic mascot came into existence in ready for the seventy third olympic games in munich since then there have been a cartoon characters and animals that represent the country and the feel of the nation and so the hope is to get the entire country rallied around this competition to get as many participants as possible so we can have a cute and lovable creature for the sochi olympics in two thousand and fourteen.

designs as you say why must it so significant sporting events. well traditionally the mascot has become a symbol of the country in fact many people remember back in one nine hundred eighty the bear was a beloved symbol of the olympic games here in moscow so this this is more than just a design competition it's a design it's a competition that will rally the spirit of the country and it will create a symbol that will become the face of the olympics that people can get behind and support and bring russia on to be international stage but also there's a monetary side to it as well because of course the mascot with it comes merchandise and pins in different tradeable and collectible items and so the hope is that this mascot will bring some financial revenue to the country as well so all people are looking forward to february when they're going to announce in two thousand and eleven what this mascot will be. we should be looking forward to a. correspondent there. now still to come on

r t the day to swap some a schoolroom. the first day of school in moscow brings i think greater diversity i have details coming out. president barack obama has made a live televised address to americans walking official end of combat operations in iraq he said the war is now a closed chapter and praised the u.s. military to helping to give iraq back to its people although combat soldiers have left iraq fifty thousand u.s. troops remain there to train local forces and his speech obama reiterated his pledge for food pullout in the year's tour of the state and also send resources will not gone right into afghanistan for intensified operations based on al qaida but he added that's not going. to do you course president clinton two americas a new economy saying restoring it is the country's most urgent task where director of the council for national interest souls financial problems worry americans the

most. i suspect we're going to see the very partisan divisions that we see too often these days. even he saw for unity in his speech it was a patriotic speech in extolled the virtues of the states is it because we students so he sort of hit those notes the way you're supposed to do is a mystery and i do think that the majority of people in skimpy dislike the kind of partisan bickering that we continue to see stuff i think that's where the speech will go across late night so i think they'll be mixed reactions i think the public and we'll see to certainly in democrats we see it in the way and meanwhile the number of troops sent to afghanistan will increase egypt 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 the last homes so the economy and its direct result from the war is

a major factor and i think he tried to discuss that. moved in that direction and tried to give people the attention that something positive would be going to happen on that sphere again i think you claimed that democrats supporting him and the republicans missed one of the rows of the president 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 sometimes of compassion so i think that was a speech that trying to assume that. he may have six i think we've succeeded with many people i don't think he did. so well meanwhile iraq remains in political deadlock often inconclusive election in march one insurgency continues to plague the country iraqi journalist already being here thinks the people of iraq are too concerned with struggling through everyday life to care about america's mission

changes there is some sort of political system in iraq it's flawed it's dysfunctional to a great degree because of what the u.s. itself brought into the country in two thousand and three however there was an election that sixty percent of the electorate went out and voted actually sixty six percent so the fact that iraqi people want to out and actually gave their voice and didn't boycott the election said that they believe in one way or the other and the system it's flawed the fact that we don't have a government five months after the elections is a huge problem and it just shows you the fact that their mother continues to talk about this change in mission regardless of what's actually happening on the ground in iraq is very worrying there's two completely separate timelines two completely different discourses that people are having in baghdad today no one actually cares about the fact that the operation is changing name from operation iraqi freedom to operation new dawn it means nothing to them what they care about this the fact that there's no government on the ground they're worried about what's happening in the streets violence is escalating assassinations are escalating and basic services are

still lacking seven and a half years later. well t's military analyst says the sift of attention from iraq to afghanistan will work until the u.s. sorts out the conflicting agendas of its own the agent says that while the white house puts its spin on the rebranding of the u.s. combat forces in iraq their 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 abandon any efforts to eradicate him poppy fields you know again instead what is really striking just recently the same approach has been replicated regarding the quiet against the 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 whole assumption is that if you push too hard against the drug farmers or against the evident 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 d. a and b. i doing the best trying to overcome the resistance from that afghan president also provides political cover and protection for he's warlords for his corrupt to drive awards 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 best land school siege have begun in russia's republic of north a setia more than three hundred died in the massacre there by chechen militants who became the focus of russia's terrorism crackdown on an office in north

a settler in a town ripped apart by the tragedy. more people are gathering at beslan school number one that's the scene of a truly horrific attack when over thirty heavily armed terrorists held over a thousand people children hostage at a school right on the first day of the school year exactly six years ago people are coming in bringing flowers and candles there visiting the school's gymnasium where most of the hostages were kept and it's been turned into a memorial capped almost exactly the same as it was right after the terrorist attack wednesday is the first out of the three days of commemoration of that's how long the siege lasted and various generation activities are planned both. and in other parts of the public off north of syria. including the release of three hundred thirty balloons into the air in accordance with the amount of the victims

of this attack although sixty or so fast the atmosphere hearing this line is rather dim and the air is full of sorrow since this tragedy really shocked the entire country since that day six years ago and we have been best friends although we prefer not to talk about what united the nightmare would still be afraid of the first day of the school year showgrounds another son was killed in front of children. reading through all the times 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 we were given this much food on the first day and that was it. all held in a terrifying ordeal which shocked the world several people would. be forced to

drink their own urine this place speaks for itself we need 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 signs this room is still filled with grief and sorrow. on the third day of the siege a random shot is thought to have a lot of the terrorists explosions ring out and the shooting began special forces entered the building prepared to leave their wives to see the children most of the terrorists were eliminated but by that time over three hundred innocent lives have been lost. least were killed in the attack she now has the mothers of committee an organization founded to ensure the memory of the tragedy is never forgotten with this site of the horror of the oil. changes people. looking at it from

a different. cherishing one in. the attack brought a huge international reaction with simple the end help offered from around the world media of the survivors one. in other parts of russia and in europe but despite the brave battle from 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 commemoration events are also going to be held at the city of angels the cemetery where most of the victims are buried and even though it's the first of september the beginning off yet another school year here in. the school year is going to start on the sixth of september after all the commemoration of events are done and it's going to begin it will be a lesson off piece when local students are going to hold

a minute of silence in commemoration of the victims of this horrifying attack. and you can watch our special in-depth report on the best school scenes that it's day on. their conduced childhood was overshadowed by this tragedy. these still feel the fear they faced. and remember every second of this nightmare. it will remain in their memories and hearts forever. the town and using soldiers. innocent victims. tom little angel on our cheek.

would be soon which brightened if you knew about someone from funds to trade shoes . who threw stones on t.v. don't come. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are all day. without it stuck out some other news making headlines around the world 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 who died when their car was fired on by gunmen never city several happened on the eve of fresh peace talks taking place in washington the israeli and palestinian leadership demonstrate things around twenty thousand people in the streets to celebrate. the owners of the chilean knowing that collapsed trucking thirty three of the workers of aust for forgiveness of the herring in front of lawmakers the miners have been stuck seven hundred meters on the ground since the beginning of august drilling is on the way to try and get them out take up to four months to complete nasa specialists including a doctor nutritionist and psychologist heading to the site. tens of thousands of children in pakistan are bearing the brunt of waterborne diseases that are spreading due to severe flooding in the country officials say they were affected by a rise of cases of that area from staten into over one hundred thousand pregnant

women also facing the risk of infection disease the worst ever flooding in the country has claimed in the sixteen hundred nights with seventeen million affected in turn two. and more than six thousand indonesian villages have returned to their homes on the slopes of the mount sinabung volcano that's despite warnings that they're putting their lives at risk after a surprise eruption at the weekend which forced many thirty thousand residents to be evacuated to safety and will cain that had been dormant for four hundred years and officials admit they were not monitoring his behavior. now millions of russian students are returning to school after a three month summer holiday getting back down to work with mixed feelings of enthusiasm and trepidation and this year officials in moscow are piloting a scheme integrating disabled people into mainstream schools so i went along to one of them. what's going on right now is a ceremony you would be able to 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 with his back 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. with their wanting to be more social to be independent and to get

a little profession in the things which are. it was impossible to get all of the stools to start this great lessons this year but two hundred schools in moscow take a part and so students from far away outside of the mosque us to be led city limits are coming in with the opportunity to have this kind of an educational experience but by next year all schools should be up and ready with the special desk grant and poised in order to have a more integrated classroom but we have it just a few moments stephanie joins us with a business stay with us. every month we give you the future the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us for technology update on our jeep. with.

these data data generated from an electrical grid. the data and you can do to do it in california. hundreds of energy sources percent black and. let's go to smarter. hello welcome to the business bulletin lattimer putin has been visiting the city of no risk to see the town and to tour the country's biggest myna there else nicholas carr is the subject of a battle for control by its two biggest shareholders. patani head of interests that he really knows each only twenty five percent of mineral scum want to buy the other out there to notice that the conflict was damaging the company and the solution was urgently needed for the government insists it will not force the issue as long as no nickel continues to operate successfully. the dispute appears to go down to a difference of opinion about how to be run on who should benefit the company's

chief executive administrational cost he describes the problem as he sees it. due to a difference to me interests. gradual development of the company to improve environmental and social conditions. to take everything there is more to come for me and even more i'm against the money out this may benefit shareholders right now but in the next years the company won't be able to develop. reso is adamant it will not sell up instead 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 price since the beginning of the year the company led by data pascoe. since the beginning of the nickel has been the only company to

increase its share price twenty three percent of us have a negative dynamic the leader among them is the person you just interviewed with a twenty nine percent say the person who told us how to work how to control our company he's the leader among. now whatever he says we listen to the prism of who do not see in managing a company's success we have the world's always dividend was fifty percent seventy eight percent is the world's average and everyone is happy here for some people fifty percent is not enough. to stay in the previous session a rise in chinese manufacturing data has given a small to investor sentiment and best than expected g.d.p. growth in australia. to china has also had a positive impact. on the first trading day of september.

i think. that. percent. second largest oil producer has a 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 i'm costs which rise faster than the price of crude oil separately the company says it does not intend to buy back the entire point six percent of it show us from current owner conoco phillips speaking exclusively to business r.t. vice president. 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. the company is interested in increasing its. 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 internationally to show have tipped to russia to drive best sales out of the economic downturn but experts warn success will come at the expense of domestic brands than a bushel reports. joined jazz shows off the models in hopes to kickstart sales this year for the first time is presenting new cause only bands the tour starts called this main cause a saw a book on c h n a it was january to june sales scrimping one thousand amid reports sybase production line will be turned over to miss a these g.m. or told to cause the chairman of gases he's now banking on these because that was my first focus is to make sure that big ourselves are successful between now and the end of here told to get sell sales will be around seventy five thousand

russia's largest automaker after guys is gearing up to make calls for renewal and new center talking analyst bill in a second numa told ulti dismayed at the beginning of the end to the clunky lot of brands leading to a joint toyota plant making only florida models nissen's basing on a spurt in its own russian sales we really go on our fiscal year which is end of march up to one i'm not positive gal's which small is a double of of the of the for the well increasing the market share so it's sort of just such a such a toss up for the first time last month story because in russia outsold the mistakes without running cool redesign expert see the wheels coming off national produces russia will overtake germany as you're just come off as early as next year at the lion's share of that come from foreign cars meaning for domestic brands something the end of the road is approaching under bush all today.

and that's all the business news for now but i'll be back with more fuel next hour and of course you can always find most tori's on a website that's atif dot com slash.

the dramatic example of this from the same. surgery. they managed not only to stay alive. but to keep their faces and souls in inhuman circumstances. in a nine hundred days in busines to leningrad through the heinz i'm assuming much. more news today violence is once again flared up for the for these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada after. chinese corporations

are on the day. she's available in international. photo. shirts and. in the.

best. time to turn the page. he said. people. call me. disabled people. schools for the first time. in. more than three hundred.