this area near the pakistan border after we gave information to our u.s. and afghan partners the three sides plan the inspiration for three months we used about seventy special forces units three landing helicopters and six supporting ones the whole operation lasted less than four rounds as we discovered and destroyed food drugs reducing lamps and seized more than nine hundred kilos of heroin it took russia nato and afghan antidrug forces three months to organize the joint operation in only three hours to carried out. nato and the united states will hold more committed to fighting them but not the right eye and rubbish there was never the top priority for them in russia on the controversy brian thought prioritize the show and then know when they decided that they want the final call that they sent by how fresh it would get without the estimated value of drugs destroyed a quarter billion dollars and about two hundred million single doses of heroin but

many believe this is just a start this is a very unwelcome. news at. not enough but it's a good start i think fight the drug. eradicate the drug problem in afghanistan we should not look at it as an afghan problem it's a global problem russia's too close to get a sense of comfort and has been asking for help from international organizations in fighting drug trafficking across the border an influx of opium we've seen exponential increase in the number of drug users and the profit from the drug trade is said to go to sponsor international terrorists who threaten russia's southern regions here's a statistic say thirty thousand people die from drug use every year predominantly young people so i think it's important to realize the growth of the drug trade has grown to forty four times since the beginning of the u.s. led operation in afghanistan and we must remember that a u.n. mandate exists which orders. coalition forces to counteract drug trafficking.

winter may be fast approaching but russian leaders relations seem to be only now giving up officials on both sides said that joint efforts seem to be the truth we want our relations in action and hope that this is the beginning of the end for outgoing drug trafficking in the coast guard c. moscow. to discuss the operation a little more in depth. but we know he's the former u.s. drug policy spokesman there in new york thanks very much indeed for joining us here on r.t. well as we heard we heard some of the reasons in that it's a related for having me bill pleasure great great to talk to you we heard some of the reports some of the reasons in that report a little earlier about the reasons for russia to get involved in the fight against afghan drug production from your point of view why is it so important russia should now be involved. well congratulations on this first ever joint effort when i worked in the drive in the white house drug policy office we did

joint agreements the first ever with china with vietnam we did not do one with russia and it's unfortunate that it has taken this long to really come together with you there's been a reluctance in the united states to even go after the drug trade in afghanistan and it's been a policy of the military to let it go and that's tragic and it's unbelievable to me that it took russia to tell the united states where the drug labs were when we have one hundred thousand troops we've spent eighty billion dollars on intelligence we have one hundred thousand additional contractors so we had to know were crawling all over every inch of that country but it took you to in fact to out the united states to force us and to embarrass us to cooperate with you to stop the drug trade which is in the interest of the entire world including the united states didn't the you as your report said drugs financed the terrorists can i just ask you though didn't the u.s. military have a very good all argument saying that look we're not going to eradicate the fields

the foam is there in afghanistan need to to grow poppies in order to provide themselves with a living and if you do destroy those crops then you go to provide them with something alternative but perhaps do you think in the loss of this recent success we could actually see these crops not being destroyed. well i've discussed this matter with secretary of state hillary clinton and she is very grateful for the sport of the world and for the united states congress in. crop substitution in alternatives to opium but the drug labs are only one third of the opium that comes from afghanistan and the rest makes heroin all over the world regardless of the labs in afghanistan it's just not a matter of only producing it in afghanistan so you have got to eradicate and a very positive step has taken place there's a new drug czar in or in russia mr even off and the new drug czar for the united nations yuriy federal tof because the all drugs are in the united nations was

against eradication now in the matter of survival of the farmers we're not out to make happy farmers in afghanistan who make money off killing the youth of the world including in russia that's not a trade that we want them to have yes we must have alternatives and the alternatives can include wheat and many other items but there's got to be crop substitution is in addition to the eradication of the fields as there has been in colombia which has cut colombian cocaine by fifty percent very successfully so we radek asian works but in the past the military has for the very arguments you stated been reluctant claiming that it would make instability we don't want a stable drug producing afghanistan the problem is those that the demand for the drugs that come from outside of afghanistan the problem being the supply you've surely got to tackle the problem in the us in russia or indeed and in europe.

no question about it and education works it's not the demand though that drives it you know when people want to do illegal things if you take away their availability to do the illegal things it does dry up the supply and then it dries up the use so it's both it's supply and demand but there should be a massive education in afghanistan because. addiction is growing by leaps and bounds right in the country that's producing the drugs it's destroying the country itself and in russia and in the united states and in europe and a massive t.v. education program. and teaching people the dangers of drug use would be very helpful just finally setting the impetus for this last operation came from russia and the us need to encourage me to do this so to say in what way do you think russia canal herrick in what way do you think russia can help the us and just how much is the us welcoming russia's help. well there have been four

labs busted out of one hundred seventy five one hundred seventy one to go and he radek ation of the fields to go the united nations drug czar you're effed it off can be as outspoken as he's been calling for eradication and calling for an aggressive drug policy it's great that russia has their person and it's a person who serves the world and the united nations now in such a leadership position because the last guy was a problem he was stopping an effective drug policy in afghanistan so there are many positive ways to go and president obama is clearly response of this was a policy that started with with rumsfeld and it's been carried over a reluctance by the military so it looks like things are changing that's a terrific role but we know fascinating to hear what you have to say we really appreciate a time here and i'll tell you thank you very much indeed for what us drug policy spokesman joining us live in new york thank you. well coming your way later this hour here on r.t. . i still can't understand how i escaped death somehow managed to push the animals

away so he felt crushing finds looks into what's causing unusual and wrong that dangerous increase in people's close encounters with the third kind in this case while the russian burns. the story still to come but first reports say that twenty people are being arrested in georgia for allegedly spying for russia our correspondent sara firth has all the details. pollution police have reportedly detained twenty suspects and they vickie's spying for russia all of the detainees a georgian sister and under suspicion of having created a spy network and sending back her secret information to russia well the timing of these reporters detentions comes of a good thing concerns about the internal situation in georgia and their oppression of the opposition that now in march this year the u.s. state department released

a report that details human rights abuses including kidnapping and assault this looks like another of george's internal political battles in russia is used as the boogie man as usual russia doesn't need a spy network in georgia would be waste of resources russian officials can get all the information in georgia without leaving their desks there's a massive georgian john spirit here in russia strong towards the homeland so there's absolutely no need for any old spawn methods to gather intelligence it's all basically nothing more than pawns of george's internal policies but there are a few exact details on the story at the moment but of course already reminiscent of the spy saga that we saw unfold in the summer it's can be compared to the scandal that took place in summer between russia and the united states in fact there was practically nothing in substance in it but as a media tool as a lever that may be useful i really can't imagine the word moscow can undertake now

because the official relations between russia and georgia are not zero they are below zero they are minus and there to only means that will take another time more time for them to improve that's a recap on that story that was ten russian agents found in the us the details that emerged in that case what you'd imagine reading about it as final and the way they described it. details such as invisible ink more reminiscent of the spice will of the not chill high tech spy network so in this story we're waiting for some of these other details to him foes indeed is that a lot of those things will come out. and it'll be interesting to see how it's the situation is handled and whether it will in fact take its leave from the way that the situation was handled in the summer since situation president mikheil saakashvili came to power in two thousand and four the relations between russia and

georgia really started quite dramatically at that point that coleman a system in the south the certain war in two thousand and eight which attacks in russia was flew through a sponsor protect is this and in southeast texas i know it's not actually the first time that there has been a spy scandal involving children and russia in two thousand and six full russian officials were arrested and accused of being spies and they were eventually released back to russia that's certainly didn't help relations situation and again as we're seeing with this story is certainly not going to help the situation between the two sides the tensions that have remained at the many years especially since the two thousand and eight war. it was r t correspondent sara firth reporting from moscow. european union has bowed to the demands of its heavyweight members who've grown weary of paying for the mistakes of the smaller nations at a summit in brussels they've agreed to change the current workings of the bailout system measures include fines for those members that overspend and creating

a bailout stash come short of the tough punishments for overspend as proposed by germany which paid dearly to rescue greece from its crisis to me rather i'm from the u.k. taxpayers and hence told r.t. the changes to the treaty are too small for the largest states to consider them a success. the commission and the the council seem to be suggesting that although there's a treaty change it's considered to be a minor treaty change bearing in mind that the last change with respect to the m.e.p. numbers adding a few more piece to the numbers that was achieved by a short meeting held in brussels without recourse to any referendum i'm not sure to what extent there is going to be a sort of a massive treaty change at this still a lot of play for because the the commission is going away and the various governments are chipping in to a process that when we were actually see a series of proposals coming out next summer and then after that there's another two year century or the two years before the the the change the treaty of actually fight so there's still

a lot to play for but i think if you look at how the economic and monetary union was put together and you compare that with how. fragile currencies such as in the states in the nineteenth century and equally in germany how they were put together you can see how there's a long process where power is constantly going towards the center i think this is just one small step in that i think there's a lot more to come yet and earlier i spoke to john gaunt he's head of the e.u. referendum campaign in the u.k. he believes being part of the e.u. club has had a devastating impact on the british economy. it's costing us forty eight million pounds a day in the u.k. and our prime minister today who had the backbone just spine of a blown moan and gave away another four hundred million pounds of our money i don't think is due about a democratic mandate to do that we need a referendum on the football and david cameron some would say was strong and he saved the u.k. taxpayer i'm paying even more in some ways assertions that actually gave the u.k.

a very strong voice and it prevented further budgets being asked from the u.k. by the e.u. come on that that was more spin than a washing machine assembly line he basically told us that he was going to say it was the law he knew he couldn't do that he knew the minimum it have to pay is the true point nine billion pound commitment because there was no way out of it and that's what's happened today he's trying to spin it that he saved the other four percent garbage absolute garbage and on where it is while there's been some dodgy deal done with the germans and the french so that there isn't a referendum on the changes that they want to the lisbon treaty as well this is an affront to democracy not just for you case it's but for germans and french under the twenty seven countries in the european union to lodge a sort of you've been rubbing your hands with glee then when we see a lot of this intense internal debate over the bailing out of weak economies obviously a lot of dissent between some of the major players would you rather then see the

whole or do you think this perhaps could be the beginning of the end of the european union. yeah it is the beginning of the end the euro is crashing and burning thank goodness we never joined the single currency we now have a situation where there's riots on the street in athens parish we've also had riots of course in barcelona in parts of spain and of course now the germans and the french don't want to bail out these so-called pig economies or let me just ask you one thing in the turbulent times we've seen that's the greek crisis in fact the eurozone survived they're now saying the euro will strengthen. this latest summit they've had is introduce the new crisis mechanism there's a lot of positive thought that's exactly what a unit should be doing getting together sorting out the problems and moving forward even the saying this is a tool a mechanism to fight the crisis that's what a union is all about isn't it and that's why the union has survived so who has survived will it survive i'm saying initial age of austerity that has nothing to do with the working man we didn't cause the problem it was the bankers

a lot regulations by politicians right across as you wrote we don't fit not understand well we have to feel the pain for that and it's obvious the german people feel the same way which is why angela merkel is trying to change our country to now what i'm saying if you want to change it you've got to have a referendum on very confident now that referendum will come we had a poll out this year i'm well right why don't you five percent of the u.k. population want a referendum seventy five percent why won't the political elite give us what are they scared of i'll tell you what they're scared of the ordinary man and woman on the street who pay for their extravagance they don't need a two point nine billion pound rice they need to be cut back and cut back to saw it because it's rich nations like the u.k. and france and germany that are paying for this expensively party. john gaunt talking to be a little early here in our to be brief look now at some of today's other stories making headlines around the world that's ahead of business news with stephanie a major security sweep is underway in the u.s. and u.k.

over fears bombs have been planted in cargo several planes being grounded and the suspicious packages being investigated in new york initial reports suggest that no explosive devices were found as a result of these searches in the u.s. according to several officials investigations were prompted by a suspicious device discovered in a cargo harbor in the u.k. . or korean soldiers of exchange fire across the border that's according to south korean officials who claim some of its troops were hurt incident comes two weeks ahead of a g. twenty summit in seoul there's been no response from north korea as yet. it's one of the ensuring myths about russia hungry birds roaming the streets but now they could actually be some truth in it with natural food supplies dwindling this year many wild animals have headed into towns in search of a meal. has more on a bears the city's. the been one of the iconic images of russia recently though the relationship between the animals and the people who live alongside them has been less than kordell the searing heat empires which swept through russia this

summer at the storied much of the bear's winter food supply forcing them to search for alternatives in these russian city of sifted twenty six year old man had a very little escape that he was attacked by a band right in the center of the city the man was bitten in the neck realizes how fortunate he was there although i still can't understand why escape death were somehow managed to push the animal away so he felt crushing and find his or elsewhere in the city there was a carb incident involving a bear while visiting a cemetery two women saw what they believed to be a large man crouching down to the grave as they got closer they realized that it was in fact that there was a dug up of body feeding on the women screen scared beyond the way it's at least a hundred turns to guard the cemetery itself our school there has been no sign of the banks that so we had the situation under control who. it's not just the human

residents that have had some close encounters with bears airport c.c.t.v. caught this guard dog having to run for its life after drawing the attention of an inquisitive bear it another for me we were told the day came from the direction of the tongue the dog attacked it it tried to smother the dog the dog gone away and started leading from bear way from the house a lot of it almost certainly bears have also taken to attacking livestock as a source of food in the u. kamensky district of central russia until it had to be employed to protect cattle in some cases humans made problems for themselves with bears it's strongly recommended not to try and defeat the animals in order to get a photo opportunity so as incidence of contact between humans and increase around rush hour at this time of year it's important that we respect these iconic creatures so as not to become the next victim of bad attack peter oliver r.t. . business news with stephanie is coming up next stay with us here on r.t.

. for the full story we've got it. the biggest issues get voice face to face with the news makers. hello and welcome to the business bulletin russia will increase gas supplies to poland by as much as forty percent following the signing of the new agreement often in the two years of negotiations and legal delays the deal has been sealed the outline of the contract was agreed in january this year but it then faced

a long process to comply with european antitrust law deputy prime minister igor section at the talks in warsaw also included agreements in other areas of the energy sector. in the power industry we plan to export russian electricity to poland we've offered our parish partners to participate in constructing a baltic nuclear power plant but the shareholders and in other forums isso informed about the privatization of some oil assets that will take place in the near future and we agreed that russian companies would be able to participate in this the price of russian gas for ukraine maybe around two hundred thirty dollars for one thousand cubic meters in the first quarter of next year the announcement came from the ukrainian prime minister after his meeting with vladimir putin however gas from says this is not the final decision and the two sides also still in talks. we have an existing contract of course which defines the current price and is

corrected every quarter depending on how the price for oil products changes so those valuations that i mentioned are different times or no way contradict each other they simply mirror the current situation so no new agreements regarding the price of gas have been made right now all the talk is about what the price could be according to the price calculation in the contract but you should have talked on i need to watch the full version of the interview with gas from spokesman on spotlight next week one of the world's top auto parts suppliers has opened its fifth plant in russia kansas magna is ramping up production here as more foreign carmakers are expanding their operations but as medina question of reports the relative lack of locally produced components is putting the brakes on the russian auto industry. dashboards bomb paris the radiator grills and other components that's what this newly built plan and the cougar region will produce and more importantly that's what the fast recovering russian call market lacks at the

moment the kaluga plant is just one of the serious of russia projects run by magna in late september the canadian company also announced the opening of three plants in simpy does that the total investment into the kaluga project top seventy four million euros the plunge will manufacture components from faults fagging renal n.p.l. to try and force certain products. but there are a lot. of the parts we still have to import. data for example from from from outside. pretty sure this will change over time x. per se this year global cop production could exceed pre-crisis levels with seventeen million vehicles rolling off the assembly lines russia will contribute about one point seven million to vote total by twenty eleven for many of this as simply

a sample hand rather than build from scratch the biggest bottleneck for production in russia is the lack of so some components plenty of manufacturing plants but the source of supply of world class quality components is pretty limited and a lot of the plants that are being set up a still importing the vast majority of components so now the big question really to consolidate the restoration of the russian car industry the growth potential of the russian call market is such that x. prize believes more foreign manufacturers will be looking to set up joint ventures with domestic phones but as the industry here expands some changes in the manufacturing process need to be arming analysts say russia needs to produce more high quality national. ponens if it's to fulfill its potential as a base for foreign comic minds in the question of business ought to reach you. on this take a quick look at the equity markets u.s.

stocks are flat to mixed on friday the technology sector is lending some support to u.s. economic growth and growth slightly in the third quarter that's in line with expectations but not enough to end investor expectation of further monetary easing from the federal reserve. i'm european stocks finished just dipping into the red on friday busy to see sector fail to offset falls in basic resources british airways down three and a half percent clients. and russian equity markets finished high on friday here in moscow the r.t.s. managed to just pull into positive territory my six gained more than one percent and as you may just learn support had their losses on the my sex was two percent higher close. russia central bank has left its refinancing rate unchanged at seven point seven five percent for the fifth straight month by weakening consumer demand and uncertain prospects in the global economy added risks for growth. president then says there was no room for further rate cuts.

i will support it because they go for very serious years on the glacial. give the budgetary problems to. you for the budget speech and the soft i would say. also the report so we're going to stay so i guess we're going to be here at a good. and that's all the business news for now but of course you can always find the stories if you log on to our website. slash business.

news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china cooperation through the day. down the official ante up location. i pod touch from the. life on the go. video on demand. and feeds now in the palm of your. question

on the dot com. and if you just joined us this is our. top stories now this out there are reports that twenty people have been arrested in georgia for allegedly spying for russia which is news agency quotes a source in the georgian interior ministry saying all twenty of georgian citizens. today fights russian and u.s. forces wipe out of ton of afghan heroin and destroy four labs in their first ever joint operation russia's top antidrug and forces as moscow and washington can only tackle the afghan caltex trade if they continue working together. give ways to demands of the blocks heavyweights pay for financial mistakes and

agree to amend the lisbon treaty to avert economic collapse in include punishing those members that overspend and creating a plane stashed. in the myth comes true is this really the streets of russia that driven their hunger as their winter food supplies were largely destroyed by the summer heat wave but there are grave concerns about the best choice of human remains as part of the diet. i'll be back with more defendants more news in less than half an hour from now in the meantime is the world running out of food some would seem to think such joy. cross talk next. wealthy british style sun it's not just. mars.