neither from sun except to vote on increasing the retirement day the country is rocked by raging protests. workers say they do not want to be paying for the mistakes or the fact cats while the businesses say it's time to get off the streets and get back to work. also in the program a common goal but no common vision while recognizing afghanistan is the world's greatest drugs threat brochure the u.s. column to agree on how to deal with it. petrol traffickers in iraq become the new health hazard as the fuel they spark smuggle spills into rivers poisoning the population's water supplies we've got a report tonight. hello this is r t live from moscow just a tad after ten pm friday evening here now i'm kevin zero in on the top story and

french police have broken the blockade of a refinery crucial for the capital's fuel supplies a workers union that captured the depo said at least three people were injured in the clashes a special operation ended a blockade that had lasted for more than a week causing significant fuel shortages about twenty percent of fueling stations remain empty across the country with no end in sight yet to the education meantime the senate is expected to approve president nicolas sarkozy's proposal to raise the retirement age to sixty two that sparked the protests he's cut down of those following events for us in the french capital. the senate is working on pretty much all day every day figuring out the final details fine tuning the proposed pension reform that will see their retirement age rise from the age of sixty to the age of sixty two and the french are definitely not happy about it they've been taking to the streets of the country not just the capital paris making sure that their anger

is heard with some protests turning violent and police forces. being forced to use tear gas to disperse angry crowds and of course those protests are ongoing in paris there are dozens of them daily from the students to the pensioners everybody young and old taking to the streets making sure we're attempting to make sure that their voices are heard and that the government pays attention to their demands but it seems that this is probably the first time in a very long time where the government is not prepared to back down is not prepared to renegotiate with trade unions and is simply staying very firm on its position saying that this pension reform is what is necessary to make sure that the french economy actually gets over the effects in the aftermath of the global financial crisis with the economy of course being strongly hit by it and that the the government proposed pension reform is exactly what is necessary to push the economy

forward and to aid the country out of the financial slump that it's currently in it's vitally necessary if they don't do with the entire system is going to go bankrupt you cannot spend money you don't have if the system is not reformed people just aren't going to get pensions so this could well be perhaps the first time in a very long time where the french people and their protests are being ignored with many already saying of course that the people who are protesting basically have gotten used to nearly blackmailing the guy. institution in france in order to get their way and this perhaps could be the first time in a long time where the government is not prepared to do that and of course many people in paris according to opinion polls people in paris and in france as a whole over forty percent of the people say that what they are most tired of is the protests and the disruption that they cause their country and of course the

costs of these problems are protests are also to be taken into account in these current strikes economists have not yet had a chance to count exactly how they will affect the current economy but of course just to compare in two thousand and seven and ninety eight transport strike across the country four hundred million euros and those are figures that france cannot afford to be paying right now. a correspondent katrina czar of apart from the fuel shortages the protests are causing the streets of friend cities to spill over with rubbish right now as well as clothes to party with demonstrations refuse piled up in downtown areas of more say but resulted in army troops helping to remove the largest objects fuel shortages delayed travel and piled rubbish are causing many in france to call for the strikers to stop i'm told this says that the pension reform needs to be approved to save the system the french should colony is based on. if they're ones that can protest in the streets but for us the reform is is

a good thing we have to reform our punch and system has a young student. for my generation for every young reform is really an this is a really because tomorrow it's our generation going up he's a pension for our parents our grandparents. you know that today in france one punch in of out of town is paid by by debts so we're going to have to pay the debt in the next year with the demographic issue. it's going to be rust. in the next year or so we have to reform our pension scheme today we have to work two more years so that we can save the system in the next year i don't r.t. tonight in just a few minutes in fact have militants turned a mine into a route for pursuit we're about details of a special forces operation in the russian proxies targeting militants in one

hundred kilometer long abandoned mine details of that coming up tonight. first russian prosecutors have demanded fourteen year sentences for the jailed oil magnate mikhail khodorkovsky and his business partner that are on trial for the second time it's the latest twist in the so-called if you cross a fair party's alice habit reports. prosecutors in the case of formal all magnets in you call c.e.o. holder hoskins his business partner never there not today almost to drop the charges the staff the relation to thomas nafi in case says formally appalled all the new console company and they've also walls for a sentence of some of food t.v. he is against the two men this would then mean if it's up held that they would only be released in the twenty seven teen who is acting for the defense of a little husky and that they have it if you continue to protest their innocence all charges say that they will contest this in poor next wednesday on october the

twenty seventh this is the second time that both men have it stood at trial this time they're charged with money laundering at theft and embezzlement that has some three hundred and fifty million tons of oil from one thousand nine hundred ninety six two thousand and three and embezzlement and laundering of some twenty three billion u.s. dollars nicole horrible ski was of course once upon a time the richest man in russia that all changed i'll tell you but she found this incident three when he was arrested in may thirty first two thousand and five both he and cattle live at every sentence by a most cases of food to nine years imprisonment in a siberian jail all those charges of fraud and tax evasion that's a sentence was then reduced to eight years and the later bite got more sixteen cool both men can see the two protests there were distance and say there were charges brought against them on the city motivates. in peaceful northern iraq it's not guns or war right now that are putting people's lives at risk the main source of water

in the region is being polluted by gangs of petroleum smugglers looking to make a quick buck on a sebastian mayor reports next for the health and livelihoods of the local people there are under threat right now. one hundred miles northeast of baghdad a special iraqi police unit makes its way to the iranian border they're hunting a new breed of smuggler who trade not in guns but in gasoline this cache of confiscated jerry cans contains thousands of gallons of gasoline that was illegally trafficked from iran a few days ago smugglers floated these cans down the sewer one river where they were intercepted by the iraqi police but many of the jerrycans didn't make the journey intact punctured by rocks or shot at by the iranian police tens of thousands leak their contents into the sea of one river poisoning the water supply used by the thirty five thousand residents of the city of. saudi or these are the cans did all its over use he killed people who. could use these who are too weak

now because of the color is to do and people count to use it. again but the money is too tempting for the local smugglers who can run ten thousand jerry cans on an average night for a few hours of work they can make up to six thousand dollars what the smugglers wind their pockets downstream fishermen mikey bring him in my head are watching their livelihood disappear two years ago we could catch a lot more fish. when i'm with your kids twenty kilos a day now it's only five to go margaret a second in the city families unable to afford their own well have to drink to felpham and water delivered to them by municipal trucks on the outskirts of town he was forced to feed his family this water those who are true is not safe to drink but because we can't afford clean water we have no choice one of my children get sick listen i was born again so i had to take her to hospital when we dream to daughter and they get sick according to the recommendations of the american

environmental protection agency pollution levels in the water supply are over fifteen times higher than the safe amount. you know of any kind hospital no means daughter is suffering from diarrhea which she contracted after having a bath in the cities. i have water in them i haven't been hospitalized myself but because of my child i come off and i have two other children and they suffer from time and vomiting as well i'm told has come to bend and they will go home but in a week will be back here again a lot and with the same regularity is no means visits to the hospital the smugglers continue to spill gasoline into the open because water system in this remote and peaceful part of iraq ignorance and greed are as dangerous as in the rest of the country sebastian meyer northern iraq forty. the bomber administration wants to sell sixty billion dollars worth of weapons to saudi arabia congress has yet to approve what would be one of the largest arms deals in u.s. history it said to include new fighter jets attack helicopters as well as upgrades

for its existing aircraft the saudis also want to wide range of bombs and missiles washington says it hopes the deal would improve the defenses of saudi arabia which is one of the u.s. his biggest oil suppliers but liberty campaign to david kay's who spoke to says it's an unlikely partnership because of the gulf states human rights record. and classic dictatorial fashion the saudi regime does not rely on the consent of its people to be governed and therefore all the arms that it can acquire simply to maintain its presence in the region there has been unfortunately a lack of concern for human rights in saudi arabia there are elements within the u.s. government that believe that the leadership is moderate and therefore it is an ally of the united states i believe that the saudi regime is in fact quite extremist in its beliefs and in its policies saudi arabia is a country which. prevents women from leaving the their home country without being

accompanied by a male mataram or guardian it is a country which bans the walking of pet cats and dogs in public there is gender apartheid it bans women from driving and i think a lot more can be done to increase american concern and pressure for improvements in saudi human rights well hot on the heels of this american support for the saudi regime is a flashpoint in the latest edition of artie's cross-talk to grapple with that and whether rand soft power is driving its influence in the region. you know one house except reality in that in iran you have elections mr ahmadinejad for various reasons is because very popular just a couple of days ago when he went to the city store. and you know he stole the election that's why they were. there you were you would say that. he would. go around here and i'm from the day you go right

ahead. ok you let the tides wash over for a second look at each truth that most of the arab world is totalitarian saudi arabia jordan egypt because we the west support them we want them to be totalitarian we want them to clearly quote unquote their own people to be on our side. and that's why we hope i was enraged and we wanted to be interviewed by many families will continue in my maze if i may just continues a bit. gentlemen when robert de niro in just a moment. if you have called ready there you get the full feisty debate at twenty three thirty that's next. rusher in the u.s. both agree that afghan heroin needs to be wiped out with a can't seem to see eye to eye on how to go about it afghanistan's by far the world's biggest opium producer but washington only wants to focus on targeting taliban controlled poppy fields artie's got it if you can explains why russia

insisted that's just not enough. there is definitely an understanding that drug trafficking from of ghana stan is a common enemy russian the u.s. seem to be more than eager to join forces to fight it and they are doing so drug control chiefs of both countries said russian the us now share a lot of sensitive information in order to crack down on drug trafficking networks in afghanistan and also track down their assets victor evolved the head of forces drug control service was also talking about this well known connection between harry and terror now the u.s. and russia perfectly realized the problem but they for on the solution russia suggest eradicating all poppy fields and labs where heroin is produced the us says it's up to the afghan government to make that decision russia's argument is the afghan government can stand up against a multi billionaire drug monster or do you want congress around he was determined brown's drug production to be worth one hundred fifty million dollars however it's

not the whole of their began drug production is just to meet a sixty five billion dollars so you can see that the taliban sector's only zero point two percent obviously it's not the mean producer who our international forces see that the rule women need only do drug production related to the taliban the official argument of nato and one of its key members the united states for not eradicating the poppy fields is that they don't want to destroy the only source of income for local populations russia says that argument doesn't work and his victory of almost said the only wasn't benefit from it are the landlords or the drug lords and definitely not afghan peasants and in the last nine years of war in afghanistan that policy brought nothing but deaths afghan drugs killed more than a million people worldwide. he's going to cheat you can reporting there from his for a washington bureau and for the full interview instantly with the head of russia's federal drug control service of not calling the ready you can catch the on our home

page r t dot com as well as more related news as well on our home page. now coming your way to a few minutes here on our to you from moscow russia counting people to counter problems. your nationality russian. we follow steps is taken as far as the international space station. every. morning used today militants hideout is being neutralized in a special operation in the russian republic a couple of you know will carry a policeman have also found a truck with explosives near a mine where the gunmen are trapped examiner could show others in the region for. at least ten militants are sealed off in the abandoned mine uncovered in about the counter-terrorist operation which started on wednesday is under way through militants have been killed one police officer died in the crossfire the federal forces have started their salt on the mine after the militants ignored all demands to surrender and open fire right now they are blocked inside the industrial mine

which is approximately one hundred kilometers long these gunmen are involved in the terror attacks and the system nation of police officers in car but is integral kyra when we do know is that a car has been found by the mine this car was filled with explosives and it was it in mind also several locals collecting scrap metal have been evacuated from the scene so the counterterrorist operation is still going on a criminal case has been launched and police has already found the recent inside their mind these militants applauded in their mind i had to be identified. from the news headlines a brief run the world three people have been killed two injured and bomb exploded near a sunni mosque in pakistan the blast targeted worshipers leaving a mosque after friday prayers police say the bomb was placed in the veranda outside and detonated by remote control so far tonight no group has claimed responsibility . cholera outbreaks killed at least one hundred forty two in rural central haiti

and left more than a thousand injured infected rather health workers say that lab tests have confirmed the illness doctors at the hospital are struggling to handle the flood of patients medicines being rushed into combat the country's deadliest health problem since january's massive quake which killed some three hundred thousand people. russia is counting everyone this week with a nationwide census of aims to take a snapshot of the ninth most populous and indeed the biggest country in the world census takers are reaching out in all directions to to get information to improve standards of living. the ability to defy gravity is not an excuse to deny the responsibilities even in space carbon arthur answering questions from russia's twenty ten senses that you imagine ality russian owners of our sky has the job of reaching out to orbit it being the ultimate and long distance phone calls. when it was my first time i felt more anxious and now maybe because i

already know what it's like i'm a little bit less anxious but still i am. this out of this world q. and a is meant to inspire russians a matter how busy or how far away they are to take a moment and fill out the census that's because it's believed that the questions that apply here could lead to some answers that could solve some of the nation's biggest problems the questionnaire attempts to probe issues such as why russia's birth rate is so low and its death rate so high a comparison to european countries data collected is meant to show who makes up for us in households learn what their resources are and identify how government can improve their quality of life and with the slogan everyone matters to russia everyone from those serving their country to those serving time are being counted. on this how else would we know what kind of financial situation rushes and what our social situation is how will we know how many people live in russia they're doing

it for us i think it's a necessity and that was why i went to take part in it. unless captivated surroundings people like these young men and women are hoping not to be turned away before the questionnaire is complete. this family of three is doing well but mom and dad are filling out the forms as a form of security. now i feel. maybe i do need help but maybe in future. if i don't have. the government or government will have this information about me but for now it's the government that's counting on the population says he didn't r t. twenty moscow time a week announced leisure show was on air in ten minutes tonight but iraq for friday's business highlights before just. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

of its business this week the government gave details of its five year privatization program it will be the second law itself of publicly owned russian companies since the end of the soviet union that's a little over reports. the biggest privatization program since the one nine hundred ninety s. it covers the whole range of the state's involvement in business the government plans to put stakes to nine hundred state firms up for sale globally but the main

goal of the sell off will be to change the investment appeal of these assets to attract private investors and therefore change the structure of ownership of the companies to make them more transparently stable and reliable. because the government also hopes to patch the hole in the budget edge with the sixty billion dollars it expects to raise among the most notable offerings is the sale of shares in v.t. bank to blow controlling the state will reduce its stake to controlling in the country's biggest lenders burbank and in the national airline and afloat the finance minister believes investor dimanche will exceed supply but analysts are more cautious on. supply you are talking about larger companies the companies that are well known perhaps already being traded on the market such as bancroft after a fall to a few others. concerning other companies i'm not sure because it would very much

depend on that you have investors which in turn would depend on the way the russian and global economies are proceeding pressure is not the first country to undertake widespread privatization indeed it's a common factor among nearly all developed economies since at one time or another they all had extensively publicly owned companies in countries such as the u.k. the process helped turn large numbers of the population into shareholders however analysts are skeptical this will happen in russia my personal take is it most likely as a government might so some company as it can be also. or there are well known names like oil companies to offer lease shares their way to investors how is it seems that. seen this six to brown boss prove it does ation better i'm not sure that the largest part of this placement torelli target as a route to investors if pushed through successfully the program will alter the

financial landscape in russia although it will continue to be a major player in business the government will have less direct involvement it's hope this will usher in an era of greater transparency as companies become more accountable to their new owners that their local clover business r.t. . now russia's extended its ban on grain exports to july next year prime minister putin and else the six month extension as he revealed before the city just sixty million tonnes from ninety five million last year russia suffered the worst drought for a century and some are causing extensive damage to crops as well as disrupting the planting season for next year russia stock markets have enjoyed mixed fortunes this week troika dialogue vice president hugo perhaps his profit taking has balanced strong corporate results. this week the markets were very volatile very water and the general trend globally as did the markets expecting the release of information

on new what if using it from listees then this week we saw very good results on the corporate on third quarter results from the united states most companies about eighty five percent reported two very good results well above expectations and probably the third factor which is very important for russia is their denouncement of new approaches asian program. now russia's until monopoly service is to find the country's big three mobile providers for high prices the watchdog says m.t.s. the line and megaphone which control eighty five percent of the market broke competition law they'll be fined one percent of their annual turnover that's around three million dollars per company companies have also agreed to cut tariffs for regional and international roaming. anymore one of russia's top precious metals producers polymath or has posted a fifty five percent boost in gold production for the first nine months of twenty

ten year on year over silver output during the same period barely grew the company also increased revenue eighty seven percent to six hundred fifty five million dollars. russia will produce around five hundred million tons of oil in twenty ten one percent on the previous year production rose at roughly the same speed as in two thousand and nine we're not sure overtook saudi arabia as the world's top oil exporter but russia is close to its peak and production within a decade is expected to slide by almost a quarter. that's the latest you can find more stories on our website r.t. dot com slash business news is next with. but given. the the.

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