are a couple of the stories that shaped the week. george's arrest of thirteen alleged russian spy a political farce scoring political points. with

mistrust. one of russia's top investigative journalists is severely beaten in moscow his professional activity is suspected to be behind the time. this box of laws will cost the smuggler five hundred five dollars in iraq he will sell in tehran for over four hundred poverty and despair for so many iraqis to smuggle banned alcohol to neighboring iraq at the risk of their freedom and life follows the dangerous. part of president obama's plan to defeat the u.s. midterm election but many say ordinary americans who have already lost big time the large business played a large part in deciding the outcome. as

we are running down the top stories of today and all of this week well in a fresh james bond style scandal between russia and georgia tbilisi this week confirmed that it had arrested thirteen people accused of spying for moscow russia says the whole story is a political farce and the georgian authorities are simply attention seeking ahead of a key nato summit and as aussies arena reports many georgians fear their governments and the russian media could land them in prison for espionage as well. for alina this spy scandal was a horrible deja vu her own husband. was thrown into prison for allegedly spying for russia during the two thousand and eight conflict between georgia and south the city or. they said some three thousand and three hundred pages of data which my

husband supposedly sound to russia because that's a blatant lie we have presented evidence numerous times that all information would witchcraft and worked was just his analysis if you look at his case you'll see that it's easy to say that anyone's is fine georgia is trumping. the lynas husband was george's envoy to nato he was named in the documentary just shown on one of george's main channels restudy too as one of the russian spies who didn't get away in fact the film was just part of what seems to be a spy novel and we are having in a small caucasus country over the past week first the news of the arrests that came suddenly and not from the authorities but through western news sources then a week of silence after which the georgian interior ministry. put much pomp and circumstance aspiring for years a work by the georgian counter-intelligence service a mall invaded in to russia's chief intelligence directorate so what is this latest

spy scandal all about a political farce a desperate plea for attention or simply much ado about nothing moscow says it's a combination of all three and many say it won't do georgia any good mosco reacted almost immediately the saakashvili regime suffers from some chronic spine mania fueled by under russian sentiments in recent years the georgian leadership has resorted to fabricating similar scandals more than once cynically hoping to political dividends inside the country and abroad some analysts believe the whole affair was an attempt to put pressure on. george's opposition their regime of circus really does not feel safe and they use any possible to again. in their struggle against a position which still is not consolidated but is getting in power more and more

and in georgia the spy story was met with distrust but. everything that concerns any information coming from the georgian authorities is highly don't. end with a healthy dose of irony. in this whole affair seem to be questioned on the american spy scandal only intellect and on the chatter of the sex symbol parent lead states just at the same time it's an attempt to lead the situation between russia and georgia to not those conditions so the twelve police in moscow exchanged verbal blows one woman continues to bring justice for her and well you know i'm not a free but i know that if need be the georgian authorities can accuse not only me but any georgian citizen in spying for any contradiction they don't need right now but when they will they will accuse me of the worst of the party in those quality to be lisi georgia. russia received nato as proposal for

a joint european missile defense system on wednesday alliances secretary general was on a visit to moscow anders fogh rasmussen stressed that nato sees russia as a friend and an essential player in regional stability president medvedev said partnership with the alliance could boost security in europe and the world the meeting comes ahead of a nato summit in lisbon later this month which the president will attend an expert in conflict resolution dmitri trenin told r.t. that a joint russia and nato missile defense project could be a breakthrough for both sides. the secretary general is a chance. joint missile defense on russia's russian. cooperation with nato on missile defense he made that statement during his first speech on russia these first major speech on any issue that he may go in september of last year basically you need to realize that no amount of strategic arms reduction and

good limitations can transform the russian nato russia western russia us relationship one needs to have a strategic collaborative project looks like a missile that the us is the one thing the silver bullet the project that key has the potential at least to transform the entire russian western relationship it's a game changer or fail to seize upon that it could be a game breaker. nato's original plans for an anti missile shield in europe send russia's relations with the airlines to a new low but recently things have been on the mend in september nato invited russia to take part in the alliances next summit and last month thirty two sides carried out a joint anti drug trade in afghanistan. and while russia and nato boost cooperation in afghanistan moscow delivered the first of sixteen planes with weaponry to choose

day to arms are being supplied free of charge following an agreement between the two states on fighting militants and drug trafficking russia's defense minister says it's possible that the country's military experts will help train afghan security forces moscow has however stated that its troops will not return to afghanistan despite earlier speculation. well turning our attention to iraq now where the war has ravaged the economy with estimates suggesting that a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line many resort to illegal means to make ends meet smuggling spirits into neighboring iran where drinking is banned r.t. sebastian maier follows the alcohol trail. in northern iraq kurdish smugglers load their horses with hundreds of boxes of booze they're taking into a way that although alcohol is forbidden in the public much of tehran's board was you can't refuse to drink and these smugglers provide them with an extraordinary

selection here in a smuggler storm in a mountainous area of northern iraq that borders around absolute. teachers you see here mr chavez whiskey black and white whiskey back here we have johnny walker black label we have johnny walker red label over here and we even have over four different kinds of. this box of luck it will cost a smuggler one hundred five dollars in iraq he will sell it in tehran for over four hundred what all the profits appear amends to men who actually take the dangerous journey are paid a mere fifty dollars a night this is not work for those looking to make a fortune it is work for the poor uneducated in desperate. this is the only job i can do. karim is brutal in its approach to keep alcohol out a smuggler recently arrested and was sentenced to life by others who have been

wounded in police ambushes have been fined up to half a million dollars to invent charged the price of the bullets that were shot at them with a mind they stepped on. we crossed the border and there are explosions shootings rests or fights terrible nothing we can do because we're only. the job dangerous but the living conditions are bleak on the iraqi side of the small river that makes the border it's a series of shady towns full of tattered shacks they serve a small showcase for the smugglers as well as for the horses the police is filthy and stinks of course down. this season and there's no food or drink during the cold and went. down. on the other side said hundreds of a rainy. border police some in concrete towers others in canvas tents put. in their pursuit to keep the smugglers out of their country a few days before we arrived we mounted an ambush on one of the smugglers. came

from the other side and took three of my music could cross the border and show everyone. the remains left the corpses rotting on the riverbank as a warning to the smugglers nine phone call comes in is clear the smugglers quickly finish packing their horses and then take off towards the border what awaits them on the iranian side is uncertain what is certain is tomorrow the same dangerous job awaits those who are desperate enough to do it sebastian my party on the iran iraq border. and still have you this hour a visit that's triggered a response we followed dmitri medvedev of russia as far east a coup real island and explore why japan is unhappy. the t.v. show that split german society find out why the program exposing online pedophiles has been accused of putting itself beyond the rule of law. the midterm

elections in the u.s. dealt a serious blow to president obama's administration the republicans are public prostration with the pace of economic recovery to win a majority in the house of representatives but experts say it's not the regular voters but the big business money that determine this outcome. this was a special election year in the us for the first time corporations were allowed to funnel as much money as they wanted into political campaigns and they definitely did not miss out on the chance to buy influence on capitol hill we've come to take our government by big business is pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of the republican party that's now in charge of the house of representatives so what was at stake what they're hoping to do is bend the laws and regulations or prevent new laws and regulations from being approved that will cut in their bottom lines the problem is that a lot of these rules and regulations exist for

a purpose they're supposed to protect the public interest to watch corporate influence inaction take republican john boehner now a majority leader in the house of representatives wall street invested millions of dollars in his campaign is also a darling among large health insurers oil firms and drug manufacturers has been or is campaigning against all kinds of government regulations and against a tax increase for the rich and other republican congressman spencer baucus is going to be the chair of the house committee on financial services he has reportedly taken over four million dollars from wall street and pledged to fight against tougher rules for the financial market and it seems there is no way around it the election system in the u.s. is such that it's virtually impossible to run for office without strong financial backing but the bigger the backing the more candidates over to their benefactors many argue the latest supreme court decision which made it possible for corporations to invest unlimited amounts of money in politics and be able to be

credited as anonymous donors has basically legalized corruption one definition of core option is the privatization of public party two years ago corporations supported obama knowing it was going to bail them out but now that he imposed tougher rules on the financial markets. and wants to increase taxes for the rich they're betting against his party believe no fear mongering and constant attacks on obama were arguably the third reaching main tools for making things work their way and it wasn't hard with most americans on happy with the way economy works and with the unemployment rate at its worst in almost thirty years people are frustrated they're deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery some corporate darling channels like fox news were especially good at channeling aspiration. but many americans now we're very interested in left down because of someone's

special interests on the outside this democracy is movable it's people coming to a polling station and putting a quasi with the name of a candidate they like but in these elections with the influence of corporations on meat first it's also really has a vote in america mel is money going to shut down on t. washington d.c. . as the republicans are making a comeback in congress one republican former president is also coming back with his memoirs later this hour we look at how people remember george w. two years on. not be able to get a job after that as well iraq war a lot of things i remember about george bush i think will be like harry truman it may take twenty years twenty years later i think will be looked upon as maybe a decent president.

a top level police investigation has been launched into a vicious attack on a russian investigative journalist only cash and correspondent for the newspaper com our son was brutally beaten near as moscow a home on a friday night he is now in an induced coma with severe injuries investigators say his professional activity was one likely reason behind the assault police obtained c.c.t.v. footage showing two people attacking the journalist the case is drawing a wide public response with many rallies in support of cash is taking place in moscow and st petersburg russia's president dmitri medvedev says the attackers are must be found and punished under a former editor in chief of commerce sun says that questions bold writing could indeed have provoked anger among some. of course the reason for this attack is conscience professional activity he was a popular blogger and he was more open and outspoken online than in the paper

common sense has a certain reserved style this beating is very similar to the attack on the journalist. which took place a couple of years ago this mention of his fingers for example. you could not write any would there is a horror show element here. that japan seems ready to mend ties with russia as its ambassador has returned to moscow earlier than expected he was recalled following a route of president medvedev to visit to the real islands to which tokyo also lays claim but as artie's oksana boyko reports moscow has not forgotten its remote territory and has a big plans for it. it's a leftover from the second world war old soviet tanks rusting on the shore barrels pointed toward japan they're about to be scrapped from nacho when the visit by the russian president put them at the center of another fiery exchange between russia and japan discovered in the seventeenth century the audience changed hands several

times to the soviet union lost in the month to expel the japanese army from the islands in all the stuff nineteen forty five that prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty living a door open for japan to claim the island seventy. sixty five years after their handover to tussle to define the islands national identity still goes on this cross appeared here if you years ago when the russian church parish and the island of she katon after decades of seeing its population windell the on and is now in the midst of a baby boom. we have the husband straight in the entire region there are many kids here and parents bring them to be baptized and livingston's it's a quite decent nowadays just a few hundred metres from the church at ikeja motor is teaching japanese at a local school in health class seven greater see the long side their parents many

of them getting a job and to fan is that best shot at lifting their families out of poverty most of our classes are very popular and people keep coming here year after year. sometimes it seems like and with my family again. this is precisely why the president came here to tell the locals that russia has not forgotten about them and while the regional officials tried to paint a pretty quick tour of the roads and crumbling infrastructure betrayed the island's haunting financial problems so it's an important part of our land we will definitely invest money into the region. and the midst of rich dishing grounds on and. a prime spot to buy seafood an opportunity that mitchell inventive didn't miss the point is it is. ok to get some. well fish and seafood are affordable here everything else cost almost twice as much as on the mainland the locals complained of unreliable supply but as the president

noticed one item was always talk of the apparently you don't have any problems with the supply of i'll call here to get the president's visit was a missed on the japanese side caucus foreign minister said the trip heard japanese public sentiment and temporarily recalled its ambassador from moscow. it is extremely regrettable that president medvedev visited the korea lions even though japan had earlier notified russia that there could be a negative impact on bilateral relations his russian counterpart was annoyed. because that only japan's reaction isn't acceptable it's our land and russian president was visiting russian territory with a ready explained this to were just a nice porkers should lead to once again in a big risky retreat this position however we're not going to take any steps that would change relations while the russian officials consider last week's rout over the greenland's unfortunate they stressed that their first priority is to make sure

that the people actually leave on the island aren't left feeling not wrong according to a two thousand and nine nationwide poll about ninety percent of russians would strongly object to handing the korea lorenzo over to japan but the overwhelming majority of the respondents have never visited this territory and are very likely to do so in the future the audience may be an integral part of russia on the map but they cannot make clear and logistically they are still very much a foreign land it's not a boycott r.c. in russia's far east. well our web site r t dot com bull always keep you posted on the many other stories we're covering including on this day sixty nine years ago nazi forces got a close at a moscow than ever before but soviet troops destroyed germany's ambitions in one of the fiercest world war two battles dot com offers a flashback to that market that. rats can be beautiful as has been

proved by an unusual beauty pageant in russia you can watch the pet rodents from all over the country struck this stuff on our website dot com. the debate is raging in germany over a t.v. show which exposes internet pedophiles by secretly filming their meetings with the decoys posing as victims critics including the country's justice minister claimed the program of flouts the law in the pursuit of ratings but its creators claim they cannot use other methods as the law falls short in tackling internet predators. as more. it is every parent's nightmare their child being led by someone

named matt's mommy and. this. teen years old the man of the street is in his sixty's babying conversing online the way. it is is and yes if i'm a little kid and your honor. went to the kiss can you tell me. the back of your neck may be ok but perhaps that might turn you on that later is actually an undercover journalist and it turns out the man works for a children's charity he's completely unaware that the meeting is being secretly filmed as part of the german t.v. show a cool tattled internet and if exposing the danger is a sexual predator online in the very beginning we expected it expected to have. to have a very specific. person to be imagined you know what you would really usually

magine as a sexual predator you know the guy with the glasses and nor does the old or guy but we've met people from all kinds of society those who have praised the show format say that the authorities should have been informed straight away especially as in this case the man worked with children and that the chaise designed for big ratings is the primary motivation the people who took the video clip took the clip in may and broadcast of it in october now and in between there was no information for any. investigative. officials for police and not for their employer or employer as well but the producers argued that the reason for having to keep the identity of the men they film secret is due to a major leak hole in the law school. chatting on the internet with the child even about

cirqus is almost never considered a crime or is left very unclear what exactly constitutes a criminal action. shockingly under current law unless there is an actual physical assault there's not much that can be done and it's an international problem with many experts evenly knowledge of the guidelines are in desperate need of clarification instagram is not anything nomination and as a number of children going online grey's say there's a danger and the scariest part is that right now there's not much that the police can do to protect the team shaders how often within minutes of going into an online chat room praising as a young girl sexual advances were made the people we were conversing with were completely unconcerned when we told them that we were under the legal age of consent which it full teen in germany is already extremely young despite the criticisms those behind the shay adamant that raising public awareness of internet

cleaning can make it if we can succeed with the goal of really changing the law and making the approach of minors online the cyber grooming. and. restriction. we can avoid those people being of increasing. serfaty r.t. . after two years out of the limelight george w. bush has published memoirs reflecting on his life fun presidency and confessing summer stoics from the past glory half in a store so known as the resident took to the streets of new york to check out what memories people hold of him and if the time has revived his image. decision points george w. bush's memoir is hitting bookstores everywhere how do you remember him this week let's talk about that i remember him as will ferrell being dropped to the

stage gently on the cable from a helicopter and landing in times square fictionally being dumped and saying when he arrived that was weird on obama's inaugural day that's how i remember going to prom with him his school my book though do you think that people in general feel better about him now two years later than they did when he was in office. i would say that no but. but i don't think obama's really proven anything you know above and beyond what he did so makes him look a little better i guess and one might not be able to get a job after that as well iraq war a lot of things i remember about george bush today do you think that his staying out of the limelight for a couple years has helped is the image of dollars that kind of just said i don't think it's changed you know the first six seven years were

a good list year we had the financial difficulties and the difficulty we did a war i think will be like harry truman it may take twenty years twenty years later i think will be looked upon as maybe a decent president if you think that's fair for a lot of presidents it takes some matches back i think i think the only thing we could look barely upon initially was nixon with the watergate he never really seemed to recapture new glory the bottom line is it's always easier to judge in hindsight so it'll be interesting to see what people think about bama two years after his presidency ends whether that's in two thousand and fourteen or twenty eighteen we'll have to wait and. we're coming to you live from moscow this is our and the russian prime minister seems to be looking to become the fastest politician in the world has a need for speed was fulfilled in some petersburg where he took to the track on four wheels. go.