talking to grandma. from the. underground and on her.

so we can review here on r t hitting civilian deaths and torture emerging the biggest leak in u.s. military history as an online exposé suggests washington turned a blind eye to violence in iraq. terror strikes the north caucuses as militants stormed the chechen parliament prompting calls for tighter security measures. and europe is made with protests and promises of fresh demonstrations against government reforms after france raises the retirement age in the u.k. called social benefits and jobs. also moscow has a new boss who has already laid out plans to fight congestion and corruption we take a closer look at the new mayor and his promises. more

welcome to the weekly here in r t i'm in use now with a look back at the week's top stories and first this hour the online whistleblower wiki leaks has lifted the veil on fifteen thousand iraqi war dead previously unaccounted for the website's published over a third of a million secret u.s. documents on iraq the largest leak in history files also reveal details of atrocities committed by iraqis against their own people while u.s. forces turned a blind eye it's alleged washington has failed to investigate numerous cases of civilian torture and killing baghdad has since valid to bring this supposed to rocky offenders to justice but the u.s. has slammed the wiki leaks saying it could endanger lives and national security with the leaks chief julian assange told r.t. that revealing the truth is vital to prevent such crimes from happening again. this is the most accurate description of

a war that is ever being released into the historic record we see that is nearly no street corner in baghdad that didn't have it a body found that is being killed through violence in one form or another but this is every day squalor of war of course for the people in baghdad and other cities in iraq was there every day 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 it in and i mean it's clear that the reasons for getting into this war the weapons of mass destruction and so on this is a clear lie there's no debate about this anymore the second most stated reason that we would weaving the west. would clean up the government system of iraq

introduce rule of law and prevent torture has completely failed. during that period of time lawlessness absence of rule of law and treat killing were much higher than they were under saddam hussein and now we are left with an iraqi government that commits torture. but please had julian assange there you can watch the full exclusive interview with him on our website r.t.e. dot com meanwhile more opinion on the latest wiki leaks scandal brian backer the director of the antiwar answer coalition believes the uys is directly responsible for atrocities committed during the war in iraq the police forces 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. in other news a terror attack on the part of the mint in russia's republic of chechnya left three dead and seventeen injured this week terrorists tried to storm the building in the

capital grozny but special forces were quick to react police say one of the militants was a twenty two year old local but the identities of the two others have yet to be established parties x. wanted to touch over reports. apollo one session was about to start in twenty minutes but instead of budget discussions church and deputies faced gunfire and suicide blasts which always and forever would say that it all started here these gates colleague was driving through they followed his car and shot at the security guards very. soon after the militants stormed the church and column and conflicting reports emerged about the building being mined hostages taken and the following chairman been injured there that will go. they came to this corner a supply manager was coming from over there and they shot him he felt. walking across the parliament area colleagues as long back and as more 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 last through are going one of the militants blew himself up just beside the estland backs when do all those who are 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 of the room the special operation was quick in less than an hour while federal officers killed the militants. quote noir could go to where the two militants who were in this building blew themselves up here one in science and one right here this place has become their final destination for the contras and mr tuesday's attack left seventeen people in hospitals and three dead reportedly they said there could have been orchestrated by the new leader of chechen militants who same guy to prove to all qaeda what he's capable off acting in isolation from his

former boss doc or morrow himself on the most wanted least in both russia and the u.s. may be launching his own war in the caucasus religions have been extremely active in russia this year twin blasts in moscow's metro and attack in a central market and logic of cause blasts uncovered korea and many assessing nations of police offices throughout the caucasus this week many have once again questioned why this troublesome region has turned into a mine field terrorist organisations in afghanistan and pakistan to be. here and other republics as the gateway into the bigger caucasus and fold expansion into europe so in this context the ongoing war in afghanistan could have disastrous consequences all over the world and what was seen 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 pavement 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 intense and i have been tightened and turned international efforts to crown but tara i don't buy into my family for trayvon martin from grass. well still ahead for you this hour on our team leaving their homes only and the wrong polls find out how young indian girls are being duped into prostitution as they seek a better life. but first france is witnessing its worst civil disobedience in fifteen years union leaders are. calling for more general strikes over the coming weeks in response to government reforms so far twelve days of protest have failed to stop a two year rise in the retirement age from going ahead demonstrators and says they'll step up a campaign that's already seen clashes with police arrests and looting meanwhile authorities are trying to restore petrol supplies following fuel blockades across the country the government says the reform is needed to rescue the pension system from collapse but many argue they're not prepared to work for longer as our team is

covering those are reports not everyone in france sympathizes with the protests. the young smart and ambitious lucy is slipping her time between a master's degree and working for a large international company for her the recent protest in paris are first and foremost a personal distraction so i'm using the. 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 t.j. sion in france there is also 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 rowdy crowd certainly give off

a celebratory vibe singing dancing and shouting but while they're spending day after day protesting a reform that is aimed to aid their country their very actions are doing serious damage it's basically this is one of the reform to. restore. the balance in the public pension system that will raise the potential of the economy as well. as restore public forums 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 their say but with less

widespread opposition from the people so are these protests a true sign of a democracy or simply a force of habit. we have to say to the french people that is the who chose the deputies and members of the senate who make the laws are not made in the streets laws are drafted and approved by revolutionaries. 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 and 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 day off kashrut as are r t paris. well as we heard and saw with katrina their students have joined the

demonstrations in their thousands despite being decades away from retirement themselves one organization which promotes the role of youth in european society says that's because young people are being made to fear for their future. 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 the police see an attitude 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 and because you know that in france we have a very high rate of unemployment for young people it's twenty three percent and the age of twenty five so it's very important and we have a general problem of sharing the jobs offering opportunities. online journalist laurie harshness has been gauging the mood in the big apple to see whether the action of the french people is winning support on the other side of

the atlantic. 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 most kinds of things should the government get involved and stop them absolutely you know you want 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 they're probably situations where you can. justify. you know. what struck. over here 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 of 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 either show 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 great is a combination of protesting in people just making their voices heard struve for royce who have different means getting on the radio shows t.v. shows and just making order feelings or to not have people to go. until the policies are to come to the time whatever you think about what's going on in france

the bottom line is that the body that didn't tolerate it people being able to voice their opinions would be well intolerable. thursday saw moscow's new boss sworn in president medvedev pick the former governor of one of russia's russia's oil rich region from a shortlist of four his candidacy was later approved by city lawmakers are to alice hebert reports on the mayor's first day in office. surrogacy beyond and is the new man about town approved by the city's will make use in a near unanimous vote mossies new massa be on and use his inauguration to set out his political roadmap there was also a thinly veiled swipe at his preacher says that he would have. to clean corruption and red tape as well as increasing the responsibility of officials will be among the priorities of my policies. sabean's appointment follies medvedev sucking of

utilities conflicts month slicing a lack of confidence the second of missile of course as an unexpectedly was probably due to all his polls and his personal mistakes and his behavior is personal relationship between him and mr medvedev. the flamboyance and controversial mr liskov ruled the city for eighteen years regarded by many as a steady hand that guy did the capital through tomorrow just periods bringing in investment he was also chong which with destroying many of the capitals historical landmarks and doing little to tackle traffic allegations of corruption and nepotism have a say don't him and his wife the property in a billionaire this is a be on in the house is worked out for him but the problem for mr ballen is the mains. spendings most will see the project more effective i think he can do

a lot of things to improve the performance of people and to gain support for the shah is the first year in office so who is this relative unknown the right man for the job after training as a lawyer he raged through the political ranks to become governor of the oil rich two men region before then president vladimir putin named him his crimean chief of staff in two thousand and five he gained a reputation as an honest competent manager with a scandal free record which with an annual budget of over flew she billion dollars running the capitol will prove mississippian and biggest challenge to date and most of all means remain skeptical very still be able to see how mississippian and paid for what you call the optics it could be one of the coldest winters on record here in the russian capital so time will tell it all to the public and serve many is that you by his call this is the change we do translate into action alice said but

it's all cmos today. turning now to some other stories making news around the world today at least four people have been killed and ten injured by a car bomb in northern iraq the blast went off by a medical compound in the city of mosul police are investigating whether a suicide bomber was involved security forces say another attack is likely and have removed civilian vehicles from the area. the cholera outbreak in haiti has reached the capital with at least five cases detected in port au prince medical officials warn the disease is likely to continue spreading rapidly more than two hundred people have died so far across the country with over two and a half thousand others in fact it the outbreak is the worst medical emergency to strike eighty cents january's devastating earthquake. and a leading a poly climber who has scaled mount everest nineteen times is missing after an animal. in the himalayas forty three year old to weigh in neymar was part of a british expedition trying to climb

a smaller mountain peak another sherpa it's missing but the rest of the team are said to be safe helicopters being flown to the region to start a search for the mountaineers. coming up for you kazakhstan strikes back. this is why. if you thought the movie bore rock show the truth about this central asian country think again a local film director is valid to prove you ain't seen nothing yet. that's coming up but first russia will take part in nato next summit in lisbon the announcement was made during talks between the french russian rather french and german leaders in the french resort of deauville aimed at bringing moscow and the e.u. closer together president medvedev said he hoped his presence at next month's summit will help russia and nato find compromises in problem areas he didn't rule out moscow becoming part of the alliance is global anti-missile defense system german chancellor angela merkel in turn confirmed europe is considering russia's proposals

for a new security structure but former british euro john stevens says european defense is impossible without moscow's participation. things of common descent always since the cold war and i do think that the more your appear. later becomes the more strong a european pillow in nato is the more open it is going to be towards 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 the immense and russia has to be part of that and that's even before we start considering the middle east things the crucial thing i think is that there is emerging an idea of a new west i mean nato was defined as the west and russia and the warsaw pact

proceed as the east i think there is now in a sense because of the rise of asia 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 of part 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. meanwhile researcher on russia u.s. relations victor crimean you told r.t. that a new security system is needed to unite moscow with a european states whereas nato only separates them. today we should think about

european security in a different way we should switch over to other forms of interaction between russia and the western community we are trying to pave this way nato is dividing europe and russia for various reasons it's unlikely to join nato it's too big and it's quite self-sufficient in military terms it doesn't need nato and its guarantees a totally different system should be created there we have our views which our president has set forth however the west has so far been cautious. stay with r.t. for the full interview with victor crimea new that's coming up later this hour. now kazakhstan has held a grudge against british comedian sasha baron cohen since his two thousand and six film bore at made the country a laughing stock around the world but now a cosmic filmmaker is striking back with a comedy of his own eagerness has the story. i'm not a robot. i like so this is how my dad say oh my god that's that

this right down of kosik they said that the owner at best. did not pay. for years after the top grossing years film about the hapless cats like t.v. reporter because it sounds premie a comedy director has come up with their post. hiding behind their freedom of speech and democracy westerners insult our nation demeter seem backward it's all lives now was shaking back the new film centers on an american keen to discover the real kazakhstan after seeing the original movie where he meets boris brother only briefly mentioned in such a baron cohen's film my brother in law and a very a funny. every day san together that to engage in various high jinks. in our film below gets married to a donkey. the payoff is that borat and below are not

kazakhs but actually jews from romania. demanders of the movie made the whole world laugh at us will make the whole world well for down. these are. there have been several previous responses to burra not least this video by rep collected or threatened to make him eat lead this time the producers are hoping for an international release. and after marrying a donkey will it becomes pregnant with this child. either of nerve. and there's also more for you on our website that's r t dot com here's a case of what's on offer right now find out how a launch at the baikonur consular drawing went horribly wrong killing dozens of people exactly fifty years ago all the details in the russian now section. was an inside view of an arctic expedition as our correspondent hopped on board

a nuclear powered icebreaker with a russian polar explorer check out her travel blog on r.t.e. dot com. promises of a better life and lucrative job are luring thousands of indian women into prostitution sex traffickers take advantage of girls and poor villages often picking underage victims because archie's caught and seeing reports campaigners are pushing to make families more aware of the danger. 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 he said he wants to reach mari why did you go with them.

i didn't want to you force me to india is the epicenter of this extra freaking industry right now in the world and the reason is that there is no enforcement of laws against traffic jams and joins it's taught 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 new heading for. either their parents nor they have any idea for the void is like the parents may know a little bit if television is in the village about what bombay is and to them bombay would represent a life stage rather than a brothel and octoroon 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 they have identified they believe are being trafficked and ordered them from the train but there was an interview

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 to the two girls are questioned by the local police but claim they are travelling to mumbai to work why. 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. 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 big here in mumbai but once you're unsure two brothers their condemned to a litle college now campaigners want to see villagers in a pod given more worn.