in. an.

the week's top stories from our t.v. security forces are on high alert in russia's volatile north pompousness after three people were killed when militants stormed the chechen parliament. france boils over as senators approved plans to make people's working lives longer while the temperature rises in the u.k. as britons face up to the deepest cuts since world war two. this is the most accurate description of a war it is even being restrained historical iraq seeks retribution for torture and massive civilian deaths after all on whistleblower week you leaks exposes almost half a million secret files detailing widespread abuse. me to moscow's new man in charge party profiles the capital's new chief as he takes on one of the

toughest jobs in russian politics. you're watching r t coming to you live from the russian capital welcome to the program and now to where top story russian police are trying to identify the remaining two of the three militants stormed parliament in russia's republic of chechnya on tuesday three people died and seventeen were injured as gunmen forced their way into the building in the capital grozny the militants were killed by security officers artie's x. on a league has the story. a poem and session was about to start in twenty minutes but instead of by two discussions kitchen deputies faced gunfire and suicide blasts jealous and so that it said it all started here these gates our colleague was

driving through they followed his car and shot at the security guards. soon after the militants stormed the church in palm and conflicting reports emerged about the building being mined hostages taken and a poem in chamonix been injured that will go a bulldozer they came to this corner a supply manager was coming from over there and they shot him he felt. walking across the fallen to area colleagues as one back in the small recount every detail of the day. the probably source running into the building and opened fire the gas crashed down on the person who was running lost its crew and one of the militants blew himself up just beside them some big skin and window all these were trapped inside the parliament. our president runs on can do was here from the very first moment giving commands he was afraid there would be victims on our side or. the special operation was quick unless they know what twelve federal officers killed the militants caught neuer. two militants who are in this building blew themselves

up here one in science and one right here this place has become their final destination the senate that mr tuesday's attack left seventeen people in hospitals and three dead reportedly this attack could have been orchestrated by the new leader of chechen militants who are saying to prove to all qaeda what he's capable of acting in isolation from his former boss or whom are can sell from the most wanted list in both russia and the u.s. may be launching his own war in the caucasus militants have been extremely active in russia this year twin blasts in moscow's metro an attack in a central market and what he got across the blast uncovered you know bill korea and many system nations of police offices throughout the globe. says this week many here once again questions why this troublesome region has turned into a minefield so as to get his asians in afghanistan and pakistan. and other republics as the gateway into the bigger caucasus and fold expansion into europe

so in this context of the ongoing war in afghanistan and americans are likely to lose this war soon could have disastrous consequences all over the world and what we have sent in grozny it's actually one of the consequences of instability in the whole region the works of the terror attack have been quickly removed from the pay rent and walls of the church of parliament but the fact that militants is a liberal into the government's building in the heart of grozny well this all is over forgotten and the security was in chechnya have been tightened and turned international efforts to combat terror i'm either my son no different from our team from grass. the people of britain and france are now acutely aware of the price to be paid to rescue their economies and they're making their anger felt in the u.k. they face the deepest cuts in decades and the axing of half a million jobs while across the channel the fight in france against the pension

reform refuses to die down even though senators approved the retirement age rise on friday the protests are violent with police using tear gas to disperse demonstrators the government calls them vital measures to reduce the huge deficit except the public aren't prepared to pay for others' mistakes but as r.t. he's got that he has a lot of our reports not everyone in france sympathizes with the protesters. the young smart and ambitious lucy is splitting her time between a master's degree and working for a large international company for her the recent protests in paris are first and foremost a personal distraction i'm not driving because in paris you don't really need your car so i'm using the subway. headquarter of my company yeah it's it's longer according to trade union officials in france over three million people took to the streets across the country but people like you see

no the numbers don't always reflect reality in france there isn't like a committee is just to avoid school it's like six years ago i made the same when i was in high school. i went to this race because i can avoid. the reality crowds really give off a celebratory vibe singing dancing and shouting but while they're spending day after day protesting a reform that is aim to aid their country their very actions are doing serious damage basically this is one of the reform to. restore the. system remove disincentive for working out order ages. of the commitment of the government to. take structural reforms that will raise the potential of the economy as well.

as the numbers really speak for themselves france has a huge foreign debt the fourth largest in the world and unlike in the united states there is no board advertising the numbers also unlike the united states where there is no annual paid leave the french enjoy the longest paid holidays thirty days a year their retirement age which is what the people are protesting about this time is one of the lowest in the world countries also affected by the global financial crisis like italy and spain have already increased there but with less widespread opposition from the people so are these protests a true sign of a democracy or simply a force of habit by the french people used to pouring out in the streets to get their way what is. this is a sign that government needs to negotiate with treat us more so we have to say to the french people that is the who chose the deputies and members of the senate who make the laws laws are not made in the streets laws are drafted and approved not by

revolutionaries fortunately we live in a democratic state and people who we select to be in power adopt laws besides it's necessary to respect the laws and in a year and a half we'll have the opportunity to say that we made a mistake and change our leaders but until then these are the people who run the country the my way or the highway philosophy certainly attention grabbing but who will back down first is still anyone's guess throughout the entire week this street outside the french senate was filled with hundreds of angry citizens protesting against the controversial pension reform over the weekend the city of paris is eerily quiet the reason for that a very prosaic one the french people still oppose being made to work two extra years but they're not about to protest it on their legitimate. kashrut as r r t. many of the millions who vented their anger throughout france are still decades away from retirement themselves but one organization which promotes the role of you think european society says that's because young people are afraid of their futures

the political context is very very specific in france today and basically most of the protestations are not against the reform system it is on the one hand on the other hand it's against nicolas sarkozy. in general i don't think the young people that are in high school are worrying about their pensions really they are worried about their future. because you know that in france we have a very high rate of unemployment for young people it's twenty three percent. twenty five so it's very important and we have a general problem of sharing the jobs offering opportunities. internet talk show host laurie harshness has been asking people in new york whether they think the french have picked the right course to fight for their rights.

in france many people have taken to the streets to protest the new retirement system are these protests democracy in action or just riot this week let's talk about that well i think you probably bring the country to a storm still both in which you have a right certainly if it does if it stops air traffic and those kinds of things should the government get involved and stop them absolutely you know you're going to believe what if the government was telling you that you could no longer live in brooklyn but you had some of what would you do about that would you just take it will there you know there are extremes there like i mean there are limits to the i mean there probably situations where you can. justify. you know go. with the over here and i think in this country depends on what you protest if it's popular yes if it's not popular people would object to it but i have faith in our

government i have faith in the system so ultimately i think it would work out but if i felt my voice wasn't being heard i probably wouldn't break the law but depends how much i believe in the cause do you think that the people of france should have a little bit more faith in their government then. i would hope it's a lot easier to brush off someone that's protesting if they're doing it in a way that hurts other shows how exactly it just makes a me out to be the sort of the bad news story i guess sort of takes the show off what's actually happening in a positive why is protesting does so what's the right way to do it way is a combination of protesting in people just making their voices heard through always have different means getting on the radio radio shows t.v. shows and just making order feelings that are not happy with the government. policies are to go. whatever you think about what's going on in france the bottom line is that a body that didn't tolerate people being able to voice their opinions would be well intolerable.

and still ahead in today's program of clearing out the muck from the mountains of the world's. places but couldn't care about the russian urals to clean itself up and. of the movie made the world laugh at us. world for down the kazakhstan comedy that's biting back at a bore out wild why the central asian nation is having the last laugh that's obscene. iraq is threatening legal action against those accused of torturing detainees following the release of hundreds of thousands of confidential military documents through wiki leaks the war logs reveal iraqi troops conducted savage abuses on detainees and that the u.s. often did nothing despite the evidence it also shows washington failed to

investigate a series of killings of suspects on civilians by its forces the u.s. criticized the release saying it could endanger the lives of security personnel on the ground but we can leaks founder julian assange told r.t. that revealing the truth was vital to prevent such atrocities from happening again . this is the most accurate description of a war that is being released into the historic record we see that is nearly no street corner in baghdad didn't have a body found that is being killed through violence of one form or another but this is everyday squalor of war of course for the people in baghdad and other cities in iraq was their everyday life for years and years and we need to understand what the reality of war is if we're going to choose to

engage in that ever full interview with the founder of whistleblower ritually log onto our web site r t v dot com meanwhile brian becker the director of the antiwar answer coalition says the united states is directly responsible for atrocities committed in the iraq war. the police force is an army that were trained by the americans who are allegedly the protectors and guarantors of iraqi freedom engaged in systematic torture abuse rape and it was unreported in unpunished by their masters by the u.s. trainers so i think there's no reason to think that this is an ongoing as a result of these revelations the un chief investigator for torture for instance has called on barack obama to investigate those in the u.s. military and civilian government for criminal acts against the iraqi people if the u.s. takes now actions to repress wiki leaks it may very well backlash backfire and instead

of repressing them and intimidating them and their supporters create a groundswell of worldwide support for them the people want justice they want the truth i think the biggest obligation is for the american people to take hold of this information about what their government did in their name with their tax dollars and with the blood of their young people against a nation that was at peace with them in two thousand and three when they invaded i hope that there will be a massive global investigation for prosecution of george w. bush for war crimes. we're following the fallout from the wiki leaks revelations on our website at r.t. dot com and here's some more of what we're reporting for you online the americans calling for their country to back off of the blockade of cuba saying fifty years of embargos crippling the people not the regime. and the moscow's deaf community is dancing to a new beat as a nightclub for people with hearing problems opens up in the capital the details are at r.t. dot com. russia's president will attend nato summit in

lisbon next month the announcement came as dimitri medvedev met his french and german counterparts in the french resort of the view in talks designed to help bring russia and the e.u. closer medvedev said he hoped his presence at the summit could also help russia and nato vive condo mises to develop dialogue and he didn't rule out moscow becoming part of the alliance as global as the missile defense system it's also been confirmed that that europe is considering russia's proposals for a new regional security system former british m.p. john stevens says european defense is meaningless without russian cooperation. things have covered a tremendous it always since the cold war and i do think that the more your appear . later becomes the more stronger european pillow in nato is the more open it is going to be toward russia i think that particularly in germany and also in france

but also i think in britain there is a recognition that defense of europe with russian participation is meaningless with the the challenges that you face from the far east in particular from the rise of asia economically strategically is immense and russia has to be part of that even before we start considering the middle east the crucial thing i think is that there is a merger an idea of a new way to. nato was defined as the list and russia of the warsaw pact leaders the east i think there is now in a sense because of the rise of asia or there is a new twist which includes russia. and because the challenges that we face and the shared interests that we have russia europe and the united states when faced with the prospect of the enormous shift towards the far east towards asia towards china towards india. that has really changed the world and

it is it is reacting to that that i think has led to a much more positive attitude toward particularly the europeans and russia but also i think the americans are not to be excluded from. moscow as the mayor was sworn in during an r.v. russian ceremony this week he is so gay so beyond in a pick by the president from a short list drawn up by the ruling united russia party and as alice hebert reports so the un is described as a skillful leader and one who takes tough decisions. surrogacy beyond is the new man about town approved by the city's rulemaking is in a near unanimous vote mossies new man used his inauguration to set out his political road map with president medvedev looking on sybian in promise to cut the capital's notorious red tape create better conditions for investors improve the

city's congested roads and blue stage occasion and help there was also a thinly veiled swipe at his preacher sesa. tackling corruption and red tape as well as increasing the responsibility of officials will be among the priorities of my policies. sabean's appointment follies madrid of sucking of you religious conflicts month slicing a lack of confidence. of course it. was. his. first time in space for his behavior. between him and mr medvedev. the flamboyant and controversial mr luzhkov ruled the city for eighteen years regarded by many as a steady hand that guy did the capital through to moche as periods bringing in investment he was also charged with destroying many of the capital's historical landmarks and doing little to tackle traffic and allegations of corruption and

nepotism have also a dog him and his wife the property in a billionaire this is a be on in the house is work out for him problems in moscow. smaller. cities because. it has a lot of money to. invest. in to. continue development of the problem from as a civilian is the main findings of moscow city project more effective i think he can. things over the fortnight before and the gains of a few showers in the first year in office so why is this relative unknown the right man for the job to be and was born and raised in western siberia after training as a lawyer he rose through the political ranks to become governor of the oil rich two man region before then president vladimir putin named him his kremlin chief of

staff in two thousand and five he gained a reputation as an honest competent manager with a scandal free record and last week he was nominated for the job i made good of selected from a shortlist of four proposed by the majority united russia policy with an annual budget of over forty billion dollars running the capital will prove mississippian and biggest challenge to date. and most. other splendid to draw people to russia's urals the clear mountain air and breathtaking views but not of the contaminated tell we take you to next r.t.

sara furthur reports from a city suffering with its industrial legacy. it's a bleak sight that greets you when you're right in the small russian town of caravan a legacy of environmental destruction once earned the title of one of the most polluted towns in the world it's playing to a large copper smelter and a century of toxic fumes and chemical waste left the landscape here devastated but it's the residents who have really suffered from the core of the water one of cardiovascular diseases respiratory diseases and i just have system diseases are coming and the want to call diseases here is rather high. under new ownership since two thousand and three the plant has begun cleaning up its act the progress is slowly. we immediately began renovation but you can see for yourself the problems that a company of inherited were doing

a lot to preserve and develop her about but of course lots more still remains to be done. the smelters founded to exploit the region's rich copper deposits and has contributed to the economic progress in russia over the last twenty years the price to pay for the economic boom has been enormous with the social and environmental scars. tall hills of black industrial waste surround the residence of care about and when you're in the town the air quality is extremely poor. to do the windows blowing and different usually you can see through an outstretched arm because of gas concentration people are being literally poisoned but the plant is the town's life when it was closed in one thousand nine hundred seven after being branded an environmental disaster zone the town fell into poverty so it was a relief to the people here when it reopened even though residents near the more of the same pollution and unhealthy working conditions they were at least able to

provide for their families. if well this industry is really doing druce it's a rule everything the units often feel and all impurities come to tyrone on the other hand things did used to be much worse so there have been some improvements despite millions in investment to modernize the plant when we visited the working conditions still seemed way fully inadequate at times we found it really hard to brave many of the staff appeared to be working with no breathing equipment whatsoever but there have been some successes here 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 plans carabao now hope for cleaner future. we are done with the plant yet 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 of care about the mistakes of the past the

time being remain ever present so. care about. turning to some of the stories making news around the world today cholera outbreak in haiti while reach the capital five cases have been detected in port au prince and there are fears it is seen as could spread. rapidly more than two hundred people have already been confirmed dead across the country part of that is down to the ongoing effects of january's massive earthquake which killed some three hundred thousand people. a suicide car bomber and armed gunmen wearing vests filled with explosives have attacked a u.n. compound in western afghanistan the militants drove up to the entrance and fired rockets while the suicide bomber blew up the gates to allow others to storm the building three afghan guards were injured the taliban says it carried out the attack. typhoon to make you continues to sweep across the china china with

strong winds and heavy rains about three hundred thousand people have been evacuated to safety and officials have closed schools and transport facilities across the region maggie has already left thirty one people dead and dozens missing in taiwan the storm destroyed houses and uprooted trees while landslides walks several highways the typhoon is thought to be the worst in the region for fifty years. now a filmmaker from kazakhstan is striking back at the movie that made his people all laughing stock around the world it's his answer to sasha baron cohen stop crossing comedy borat and he doesn't spare his horses or donkeys to be more accurate our d.z. go to our god never looks at how the director is defending his country's author. i might add. i like this oh my god they have a girl like that this right though not because. they said oh no or at best.

not be. hiding behind their freedom of speech and democracy westerners insult her nation demeter seem backward it's all a lie now was shaking back for years after the top grossing years film about the hapless cats like t.v. reporter because it sounds premier comedy director has come up with their past the new film centers on an american keen to discover the real kazakhstan after seeing the original movie last year with the us we have such cars and such technologies here and i stand nothing like the american film. there he meets borat brother only briefly mentioned in such a baron cohen's film my brother in law have a very a funny. story. together that to engage in various high jinks.