much ado about something as france is paralyzed by riots over a retirement age increase and more angry protests are expected in the u.k. which has just announced its biggest social spending cut since world war two experts say the massive public outrage is an overreaction. the man believed to be behind the attack on the chechen parliament may have been a regional militant leader keen to demonstrate his strength to al qaeda. and a weak human trafficking laws in india shattered lives his village girls come to the big city promises of a better life and end up in brothels. around the clock around the world this is r t here in moscow good to have you with us in france public transport is paralyzed flights canceled and one million people

protesting demanding the government backs down from retirement age reforms the protests erupted into violence off to prison nicolas sarkozy found his conservative party would press ahead with raising the retirement age from sixty to sixty two still lower than in most european countries people took to the streets throughout the country hurling stones and bottles burning cars and breaking windows you still can't believe she was forced and tear gas to push back the protesters after the interior minister had sent in offices to stop writing pulled out a a political professor from the university you see all supposed discusses the reasons for the honor. just. the problem was the retirement ages been raised actually a number of years ago because of the observed democratic demographic trends and so there have been actually several attempts before to streamline the system to. increase the number of years that people have to pay in which is still in france

lower than the average in other countries as well but all of these measures have been insufficient and so it's come to this measure of raising the retirement age which is only a raise of two years and it's still it would still be one of the youngest ages to retire in europe so it's true that the public ought to be aware of the of the issue but it's true that also that they have been used to a generous benefit regime and it's very difficult for them to we're actually except to let go of it of course it depends on your generation as well you have different positions from younger active workers who are currently paying into the system paying in for the current retirees and of course they know that within a few years the system if it's not reformed is going to go bust so they have an interest in the reform as well it's probably people who are nearing very closely to

retirement to find it more difficult to realize that they have to maintain themselves professionally two more years and the unemployment rate for over fifty five years is a rather high in france in the same way that it's rather high also for youngsters between fifteen and twenty four so that actually creates a lot of resentment and anger and that's one of the reasons why we see these protests president sarkozy's also taken quite a gamble because he obviously has a vested interest in pulling off this reform and even if it makes him quite unpopular his an idea is to prove. to his core electorate that he can deliver a very difficult reform package even in the face of strong opposition it also has to be seen what happens in the next few days as the protests get more violent if you have a really major problems because of the petrol or gasoline shortages then public opinion and perhaps a swing against the protestors. the u.k.

government has announced its largest cuts in public spending since world war two the new austerity plans will have the budget slashed by eighty three billion pounds and cut off around about half a million public sector jobs state pension age will be raised to sixty six which is four years earlier than planned and one of the hardest hit will be welfare benefits which will be slashed by seven billion pounds thousands of taking to the streets to oppose the measures well it's now get some more analysis from dr richard wellings he's the deputy editorial writer at the institute of economic affairs there in london thanks very much indeed for joining us now is the the amounts cuts are the most severe since world war two as i've just mentioned the labor party has said the measures are too severe some are saying this is totally reckless is it really the responsible gambling with the economy as the as the labor leader has described it today. no not at all and i think actually george osborne should have gone further with that let's put it into perspective by two thousand and fourteen fifteen overall government spending will only have fallen by about three percent so this is

actually a very tiny cut so i think you should have gone further he's relying on economic growth and rising tax revenues to make the bulk of the deficit reduction and he actually this is a big gamble because we can't rely on economic growth being strong for next year when really but by recovery that. you mentioned the two thousand and fourteen two thousand and fifteen will by then something like over five hundred thousand public sector jobs will be lost what will happen to those people obviously some will be retired off but surely those people will be have to be absorbed back into the jobs market if not they'll need unemployment benefits so surely that's going to cost the government even more isn't it with all those people out of work well again i mean there are actually six or seven million public sector works in the u.k. so this is five hundred thousand spread over four years which is around one hundred thousand or so each year so that's only about two percent or so of the public sector workforce that i think a lot of that can be absorbed through natural wastage the obviously certain departments are facing very severe cuts but it is definitely patchy and let's not

forget as well that's every pound the government has taken from the private sector in either taxation or borrowing so you're not actually taking money out of the economy but you're taking a very measured approach to the saying it's not enough but clearly many people disagree with the thousands of already taking to the streets in the u.k. we're reporting of course today the protests the violence in france where people are complaining about the pension age going to be raised to sixty two what of course exactly the same initiative has been introduced by the government in the u.k. where they're saying the state pension age will be raised to sixty six for both women and men could that not spark the same sort of violence we're seeing in france at the moment. i hope not and i don't think it should too i mean western governments don't really have much of a choice about reducing the huge deficits they're desperate to avoid what happened in greece and that could easily happen if they don't take severe measures to reduce government spending so you saying that those people who are complaining who are really complaining in a very vociferous and many cases far away do you think that they are actually being

unreasonable and naturally that they should be taking the british stiff upper lip attitude and saying these cuts are needed and that actually that they are overreacting. i mean we've seen huge number of job losses in the private sector during the recession and at the same time the public sector of expanding and pensions when welfare benefits went up so you need to restore the balance in the economy we've had a huge transfer from the productive private sector to the non productive public sector and this is very unhealthy for long term economic prosperity what about though the the u.k. government of the moment how vulnerable could it be as a result of these massive cuts there's a coalition government obviously in still in its relative early days or something pat could it have on the popularity of the current government. well i think the kind of been flagged up well in advance and if anything the coalition of exaggerated the scale of the over the past few months since they were elected so in some ways it will be a bit of a relief that they're really going to be three percent. but what impact could this

really have again you're saying this you're taking quite a column attitude to this but there are many many people in the public service employment many people who obviously need benefits all this is going to be caught what sort of way could this really impact on people's lives in britain. well that be a big impact particularly on some of the private sector contract who work for the government if you look at the figures capital spending was going to be reduced by about thirty percent which is a much bigger cut in general spending so there will be victims of this range of many cuts but if you had gone on gone like it had if the deficit wasn't reduced then more and more of taxpayers' money would have been spent on interest so the public sector would have had to be cuts eventually anyway so there really was no alternative to see making some cuts very interesting here we have to say dr richard weddings we appreciate your time thanks for joining us the deputy editorial director at the institute of economic affairs there in london thanks for your time . the u.k. would also have to put off renewing its nuclear deterrent system and withdraw

twenty thousand british troops based in germany after the government announced multi-billion pound cuts to the country's defense budget artie's laura emmett talks to people in london to find out if they are aware or even care about what was being spent on british troops abroad. cup is the word on everyone's lips this week in the u.k. public sector cuts in the shape of the comprehensive spending review which will see nearly half a million jobs go in the next four years and cuts to the defense budget say that now a person's spending on defense as a proportion of her gross national product will be no good than in any peace time since records began and one thing they certainly won't be able to do is station large numbers of armed forces in germany twenty thousand military personnel are operational left a legacy of world war two david cameron's announced they'll be pulled out over the next ten years but did the british people even know they still had troops posted to

germany and what are they think they're doing that now david cameron says as a part of the of the defense cuts we're going to bring them home what do you think about that is it something we should be not floral. no more or aren't we should our church of the world for money most of it we shall just so on the strength. of these hundred more for all i'm going to talk supposedly did you know that person still had street stationed in germany no i didn't know that and what do you think they're doing that. may be protecting global peace what do you think they're doing that. we've got to forgive. that was our reporting in london well still to come for you this hour here on r.t. we visit one of the world's most polluted turns. but the pay for the economic has been enormous the seychelle and environmental sky was clear that they

investigate if there's any hope of a clean the future for a place with a legacy of pollution and deprivation. that story still to come but next a gang split could have been behind tuesday's strike on the chechen parliament the russian republics interior ministry has sent a man thought to be behind the terror attack may have been trying to assert his authority in the region to al-qaeda. has the details. we're standing in front of the chechen problem and that has been attacked by the militants three people were killed and seventeen injured as the chechen terror and minister reports the man behind this attack could be her same guy collier near a leader of the chechen militants and this is the way his show when al qaeda what he's capable off forty year old guy kind of orchestrated an attack on the whole village of the chechen president runs on this august twelfth militants broke into the village early in the morning they will be blocked in one of the streets as a result of the counterterrorist operation six police officers died more than twenty people were injured all militants were killed this also involved in train

suicide bombers and there have been several suicide lost in grozny this year before cassandra cardiff was operated on to draw kumar of the notorious and most wanted criminal in russia maher is the man behind moscow metro blast which killed forty people talk omar has been on the most wanted terrorist list by they do or see just to remind you that militants drove into the parliament parking zone killed a security guard opened fire and stormed the parliament the federal forces walked the militants inside the building and the operation was success all militants were killed and this is how one could do a commented on the situation. the police did a very good job we sent two teams of six people in there it took them fifteen minutes to kill all the militants. all members of parliament from the building the whole area right now is been cleaned and today the church and parliament resumes

its normal working hours and victims as far as we know will be receiving compensations from the state. the russian president's proposal for a new pan european security treaty could work if agreed that's according to the chairman of the munich security conference the former track politicians media and scientists from around forty countries and this time it's taking place here in moscow the european security system which we have had for the last decade or two has not worked very well that was probably the reason why president medvedev made fundamental proposals regarding. the able and the evolution of this european security system i think he is right in addressing these issues. the comments echo the reaction of the french and german leaders who met president inventive in deauville. with the aim of bringing moscow and the

closer it's been confirmed that europe is considering russia's proposals for a new security system in the region in response the russian president said he would attend the key nato summit next month in this been. well talking to r.t. a top russian diplomat responsible for smoothing relations with europe says that russia's relations with nato will thrive when cold war stereotypes are dropped and the full interview is coming up in fifteen minutes but here's a quick preview for you. but for now what we have a full fledged dialogue with nato there have been certain unpleasant incidents of course but today we have a common understanding of the fact that we have to move forward we live on the same continent so we've been facing up to the same threats and challenges for quite some time i think that leaders new strategic concept should be free from such a vista concept of perceiving russia as a possible threat of were hints about nato as a global role in the circumvention of international laws.

the turn of color bush may have once been a center of economic activity and wealth for centuries in russia but it's fallen into disrepair today years of industrial activity and pollution of choke this once charming city so if earth reports now from the toxic town nicknamed the black point of the planet. it's a bleak sight. in the small russian town of caravan a legacy of environmental destruction and the title of one of the most polluted towns in the world. and a century of toxic fumes and chemical waste left the landscape devastated but it's the residents who really suffer from the. cardiovascular diseases respiratory diseases and digestive system diseases are common in the world of oncological diseases here is rather high. under new ownership since two thousand and three the plant has begun cleaning up its act to progress. we immediately

began renovation but you can see for yourself the problems that accompany of an inherited were doing a lot to preserve and develop but of course lots more still remains to be done. the snails was found it takes split the region's rich copper deposits and has contributed to the economic progress if the last twenty years the private pay for the economic boom has been enormous with the social and environmental scars. tall hills of black industrial waste surround the residence a caravan when you were in the town the air quality is extremely poor. today the wind is blowing in a different way usually you can see through an outstretched arm because of gas concentration and people are being literally poisoned that the plant is the town's life when it is case in one thousand nine hundred seven after being branded an

environmental disaster the town fell into poverty so it was a relief to the people here when it reopened even though residents here are the more the same pollution and unhealthy working conditions they were at least able to provide for their families. this industry is really dangerous it's a rule everything the units often feel and all impurities come to tyrone on the other hand things did used to be market worse so there have been some improvements despite millions in investment to modernize the plant when we visited the working conditions still seemed way feel inadequate at times we found it really hard to brave many of the staff appeared to be working with maybe the equipment whatsoever but there have been some successes the waste used to be dumped into the water has stopped and the companies say that they're winning the battle to cut emissions and with further investment plan and care about. the cleaner future. we aren't

done with the plant we're going to turn the plant into a modern european type factory so everything you see around the plant will soon become history. for the residents that care about the mistakes of the past the time being remain ever present. karabakh. time now for some more world news this hour for afghanistan some action officials are nearly a quarter of the ballots from september's election that accounts for almost one point three million votes the decision follows numerous reports of. although the official still insists that the election was a success. is a scramble to get aid to flood victims in central vietnam raging currents of killed at least forty people and some two hundred thousand homes are being swarmed officials warn that the death toll toll can rise as the search continues police say a bus swept away two days ago by heavy waters over the main highway has been found on the bottom of a river that divers have not been able to determine how many of the missing twenty

passengers are still stuck inside. disgruntled dairy farmers have taken their tractors to be european union to protest those on milk prices producers from france germany and italy among those who blockaded the parliament building in strasburg they were demanding that supermarkets pay more for their milk prices have dropped me hard over the last two years mostly in small private from. india is working to combat a sex trafficking problem which campaigners say is the most rampant in the world thousands of girls from neighboring nepal are being brought to major cities like mumbai with promises of good jobs instead many become victims of human traffickers trapped into a life of virtual slavery as artie's current sing investigates. rush me may be young but she's gone through more than most girls her age to leave her village for the bright lights of mumbai only to find she was heading for life in a brothel she said. why did you go with them because

i didn't want to you force me to india is the epicenter of this extravagant industry day now in the world and the reason is that there is law enforcement of laws against traffic pins and join it support more than a quarter of a million been trafficked in india each year some are as young as nine and come from the rural areas of neighboring heading for. their parents' noisy her. any idea why it is like that they didn't mean one little bit if television is in the village about what bombay is and to them bombay would represent a lifestyle rather than a broad. it's easy to cross the border between india and if there are well established routes for trafficking in the northern state of bihar rescue groups keep an eye on the trains passing through be invited to fight they believe are

being trafficked and ordered them from the train but civil service when we ask youngsters where they're going they say they're going to study it for girl is travelling with the boy she says he's her father but when we demand their identity cards we see the aren't related. questioned by the local police but claim they are travelling to mumbai to work wise i'm not saying we have no work in our village i have two young children and when i was promised a job in mumbai i decided to take up the offer but two. girls are misled by people offering them jobs in big cities we apprehend them and then hand them over to women's shelters there are also girls who are convinced they can be part of a dance group and are conned into coming to india. it's easy to convince young girls in a village hundreds of kilometers away that they can make it here in mumbai but once you're unsure two brothers they are condemned to a litle bondage now campaigners want to see villagers in may body given more

warnings of the dangers and the police more active in clamping down on traffickers out and saying r.t. mumbai. would just remind you can check out our website for updates on everything we're covering the moment as well as expert analysis blogs and videos all available . like. thousands of leftist state church in a week in protest of clergy stance on gay marriage. also it's fashion week here in moscow. all all of this incredible online all of. the. friendships take for the moment i'll be back with another look at our main stories in about seven minutes from now in the meantime the business news is next with

charlotte. hello and welcome to the business program here on r.t. with me charlayne was folly the russian government has revealed some of the details of its privatization program the state will sell stakes in around nine hundred companies by two thousand and fifteen worth around fifty eight billion dollars among the most notable offerings will be the government reducing estates indeed to be found to below controlling three years of serious investors show interest the government's taken to controlling as well its holding in national airline araf lot you could also sell up to fifteen percent of all companies or snuffed by two thousand and fifteen the plan is yet to be signed by president reaching which bit of finance minister alexei cujus has expects investor demand for the privatisation programme to outstrip supply. to the market down here they finished wednesday's session of mixed with the r.t.s.

down low point eight percent energy may just be the main news is for willing gals problems down more than not when five percent banking stocks are up today in terms of the want. to oversell gold mining you need to seeking a regulatory approval for want of a billion dollar initial public offering in london they are paying the. money that's according to sources close to the deal this sell it will be the largest overseas share offering by a russian company says united will celebrate two point two four billion dollars in hong kong. on russian road and bridge builder to set an indicative price range of six point two five to eight dollars per share of his upcoming i.p.o. the company would raise up to half a billion dollars if it manages to sell the twenty five percent of shares allocated to the initial public offering the road show starts on wednesday and it's expected to be concluded by. the new mayor of moscow is due to be appointed on thursday the

kind of see up ahead of the government ministration and deputy prime minister came as no surprise there's no clover of course the nomination of sygate some yarn in known as a successful manager has been met with optimism in the business community. a professional lawyer and an experienced manager who ruled russia's oil rich region. is no stranger to power in two thousand and five he moved to moscow to have the kremlin administration and in just three years was appointed deputy prime minister tried and tested he's seen as the right man to take the keys to moscow i think. enormous experience hall for work in the government he is known as an efficient professional he has managed to create a system within the government stuff and he was quite successful as a governor of one of the. original russia banyan delivered

his mayoral strategy to his future colleagues in the duma among he stopped priorities are to reduce brucker see fight corruption and to prove the city's infrastructure a lot of hopes are being pinned on the new man not least by intrapreneur those who expect him to solve the small but still important problems. the new mayor should not only focus on global issues but also results small issues. public council satish the city districts doing the small business we also expect him to think how to excessive to show that small companies would have an opportunity to invest in new technology they remain open to little greek cafe in the center of moscow in the middle of the extreme summer heat and like many other intruder knows she was lucky to pass all the registration for morality smoothly but an easy start doesn't mean any zeroed apart from high rent and interest rates she says red tape is the main thing holding her back her strong hope. will be able to work miracles.

so we hope the new mayor will sort out the weather next summer and will be last with our series in speaking we want last bureaucracy and more transparency another important thing for small business is to. have an opportunity to take part in real estate tenders for renting or buying the new head of russia's capital is cut from the same political cloth as the country's ruling tandem of president made visit and prime minister putin this offers the prospect of critic alternation between federal and local government in the country's biggest city moscow's small business people are cautiously optimistic that their lives may be made a little easier but even they understand that although the problems in moscow are well and to stooge they are still prodigious i don't know how clever business r.t. moscow. russia update for you can always find more stories on our website r.t. dot com slash business.