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nato's role in the changing world strategy. with russia. this comes at a time when critics say the sixty one year old military alliance is basically an identity crisis it can find itself. more from. the dangers lurking beneath the. days investigate what potentially deadly poison could lead. to glimmer of hope for russia's minor offenders who could soon have the option of

a fine all community service instead of a stay in an overcrowded prison. with twenty four hour news from russia and from around the world this is r.t. here in moscow summit defined as one of the most important it's ever held nato is meeting in portugal to decide what its future should be and whether it's even relevant engaging more closely with russia and deciding on a strategy to stabilize afghanistan and get out a key issues all this is part of an identity crisis for an organization created sixty years ago to oppose the now defunct soviet union. in the portuguese capital. we can expect the leaders to really try to defend what the reason is for nato to be in this day of age this is a time when analysts internationally are asking why it still exist what its purpose

is what its place is in the world at a time when we've seen its mission in afghanistan for example go on here ten years with countries reevaluating their resources and its rising casualties amidst tough budget decisions where countries facing austerity may need to cut their military budgets and so these are the questions that leaders here in lisbon will be trying to answer or at least that people will be looking at them for to try and figure out what the direction is for nato moving forward into the twenty first century we have more details on that take a look. it's the biggest and oldest military alliance in modern times but when you think about what it's places in the world today. the answer. the answer doesn't come easily and not just for one speechless american official decades after the cold war ended with no common enemy originally supposed to define i defend western europe against the soviet union nato allies have been at

a loss for a new one and at a loss for a clear purpose here's what our identity crisis for a while we can severely by the seemingly endless afghan war with nato members growing weary and countries such as canada and the netherlands pulling troops out the power of the block is in question no actually in afghanistan and in many other places in the world we're seeing because of the lack of. ability to transform and the depth and perhaps the consequences of a growing group of now twenty eight nations driven together but still largely led by the interests of one of the united states who is trying to use need to directly and indirectly or directly tries to use nita as his daughters in the to fulfill. american missions yet everyone feels the strain and with goals not laid out since before the attacks on nine eleven which drove the alliance into war there's not much that's concrete to guide an organization seemingly in crisis which is just one

reason why now when lisbon this meeting matters here at the nato summit the alliance will try to buy from modern relevance with the promise of new strategic goals but also here in lisbon are another group of international critics who believe that there is no place for nato in the twenty first century reiner brown is planning an anti nato protest you know i think there is no place for nato i think there is no place for me who lives any longer in the world because you conned solve any of the global problems with military not and nato was now looking to an old foe for help solving its problems with all drop which has now emerged as a basically a one of the global players it's impossible for nato to do always sort. of like the war i'm going war in afghanistan they're looking to

russia for help with supply routes in fighting the drug trade and now an organization that famously touted a mission of keeping the russians out and the americans in needs the russians in afghanistan to help americans get out i'm not sure what nato is in the twenty first century and i think good so outdated and without a major rethinking of its goals policies and missions and alliance looking for a new place in the world may find itself. the answer. fumbling along without one although president medvedev is not here yet already nato russian relations are a key subject we've seen u.s. president obama come out with an editorial in the end of the international herald tribune calling for nato to reset relations with russia in the way. that the u.s. has a saying that this is the key here at this summit to show that nato views russia as a partner and not as an adversary di dated cold war era thinking so here they'll be

discussing a number of issues one of course being afghanistan which nato is looking to russia for cooperation on already russia is helping in those efforts with supply routes and with helping to combat the drug trade in afghanistan also on issues that they share the nuclear nonproliferation or disarmament which are concerned both for nato members as well as for russia and of course the issue of missile defense which has been a sticking point between nato and russia for here is now nato is taking a different approach trying to bring russia on board saying that this is an issue that they both face in terms of the threat of ballistic missiles and that they will see if they can tackle together now political analysts say that russia does have the political will but there are a number of questions that are unanswered that nato will be needing to answer in order for there to be progress forward but of course we will have to wait and see when that those talks get underway. knowing this time reporting that well there are some experts who believe nato is doing this long as the u.s. forces europe into accepting its promises. it's actually vital on the one

hand that european nato member states make the military spending more efficient in order to be more efficient pillitteri but also politically the one to play with the other it's equally vital for the us understand that if they think that in future they could use that imbalance to just as it were drive europeans in true or sort of meet exceptions of their policies that would be over time the end of major i think this is something that president obama understands very clearly he wants the europeans to become stronger militarily politically more united more integrated because he realizes and i think mary americans do that american might in the twenty first century is not going to be what it was in the twentieth century it was that particular second half of the twentieth century and that america needs europeans as true partners including one day i think russia.

scientists fear the site of the chernobyl nuclear disaster still has the potential to cause an even greater catastrophe in concrete bunker coverage here is nearing the end of its life and no one can be sure just how deadly the day beneath still is and actually you know ski has this report. almost a quarter of a century since the chernobyl fallout a special confinement structure called the circle for gas is still preventing more radioactive emissions into atmosphere this structure the circus was built in nine hundred eighty six just months after the disaster that your noble nuclear power plant back then experts predicted that this would last for only twenty years until two thousand and six that is but it was strengthened and improved extending its lifetime for five more years the biggest question is how much nuclear fuel remains under the surface some experts believe that there is none as most of it did vaporize into the atmosphere and was spread around the chernobyl exclusion zone but many experts believe that there are ninety five percent of nuclear fuel still

remaining under the surface and that could be tons and tons of nuclear material. we believe that the nuclear fuel under this it configures is no longer a solid mass like it was twenty four years ago that now is more like three layers of dispersed dust so should the presence of go for those crops we could see a very powerful explosion at the facilities as powerful as a nuclear one. in order to avoid another catastrophe europe invested in the building of a new confinement in two thousand and seven french company was allowed to start the construction of an arch like steel structure to cover the facility three years later the project is underway with more than five hundred engineers building the new circle for gas next to the contaminated plant it won't be just the frame yeah it will be a technological complex as multi-functional crane system will be installed inside

the new structure eight. finals at the new safe confinement should provide the safety environment for the works in far the project's initial cost was thought to be half a billion euro now sources in chernobyl report that figure has almost doubled but in the fight for the continent's safety no some is too much the new confinement is expected to be completed by the year twenty thirteen and is expected to last for another hundred years the only question is what is the fate of the nuclear power plant in chernobyl some say that it may be dismantled under this new dome but that is only a speculation for now we only heard that this is a process which may take another seventy years and there are no technologies to this date which would allow this to happen. r.t. reporting from the church noble exclusion zone in ukraine. well still to come in

the program this hour for you new hope for russia's first time offenders reforms to the prison system could see fines and community service replace jail sentences for minor crimes. and bringing democracy u.s. style americans the government over the billions of taxpayer money used to fund a regime change abroad the first in a series of reports we hear a nazi. there's been little sign of improvement in russia's volatile north caucuses according to president dmitri medvedev he's meeting security forces and local leaders in southern russia to discuss helped to bring stability what is a country is following the visit. for us. terrorism cannot be countered single handedly to successfully applied terrorism is the task of many this was the main message as the leaders of the north caucuses gathered for a meeting with the russian president dmitry medvedev the talks were devoted to

security in this russia's most volatile region they were mostly held behind closed doors the president opened the session with a very harsh criticism of the work of russia's police and security services there indeed twenty turn was a very top number of terrorist attacks group four fold compared to two. thousand to the country's national counterterrorism kmita some six to terrorist attacks planted this year and over three hundred terrorist word for it but the rough road to the great to the districts in russia are not something he would fully trust just . statistics so often misleading there's no trust in them i want to once again draw the attention of law enforcers to this fact there is no trust in the statistics that often just including interior ministry reports police this in the works now will make it possible to make the statistics exact. well according to the

statistics which the president doesn't find trustworthy it's been relatively stable this year but violence has been on the rise in the republic's. traditionally peaceful carrier there were over one hundred terrorist crimes carried out there six times more than in two thousand and nine the president today called this upsurge in violence says russia's biggest domestic problem a year ago when a similar meeting was called in he ordered a full rasha full of local law enforcement also as part of the measures to improve the situation as a separate antiterrorism group. which now works along with a national counter-terrorism committee also the president formed together these republics saw russia. into a new federal district and many saw this massive crime and is now stepping away from military force approach and is now going to focus on social and economic

development. remember you can check out more stories on our website is r t don't come. up to date with all the latest developments and here's what else you'll find online there right now feeling down about logic for a new survey reveals russia has more smokers per capita than anywhere else in the world you can find out about the calls to stop the problem. customers classes for hitting the town hundreds of american men enroll in a pickup. to learn all the tricks from beating women but more on that story plenty of other features had to. come. russia's petty criminals and first time offenders may soon see jail time for fines and community service as part of ongoing reforms to the country's criminal code designed to put an end to sentences and relieve overcrowded prisons. explores the alternatives in store for some of the inmates currently serving time. the fourteen hundred women serving time

here have one thing in common at some point in their life they all made a bad choice going up a hall i went over to my friend's house to get some minor back that he owed me but he refused to pay up so he didn't have any says so his canary bird seed in there and i took it as collateral later the police came and said i stole it after breaking and entering the price for a stolen canary bird bus instead of that i was sentenced to st years in prison and i'm currently serving out my first. this extract specked of russia's legislation has been questioned by many including the country's lawmakers a system of alternative punishment for a lesser crimes in the works with people found guilty of minor law violations facing fines and house arrest rather than jail time used up to get only you can't put someone in prison because they still two chickens are legal system no deals with these things and effectively there are harsh punishments for small misdemeanors and in some cases when instruments which are too late for meter cranes

we need to balance the system because despite recent statistics crime is on the rise. add that to overflowing prisons abysmal health conditions on the inside tougher integration into society after serving time and the true nature of this problem becomes even more evident even financially that reform makes sense according to official data over a million people are currently imprisoned in russia with twenty percent serving up to three years for misdemeanors substituting their jail time with house arrest will free up the prisons lessen the burden of taxpayers and most importantly not give people. a reason to use it. if a person goes to following some silly act of his or other certain circumstances because he comes out as a lifelong criminal but we have relevance to the backslide amounts to thirty to forty percent at the very least i mean almost half of them later become criminals.

but there is much to do before these amendments get implemented into the legal system the electronic surveillance bracelets for example will rely on russia's positioning system and it's not yet ready neither is the legal system with law enforcement not yet capable of the required fishable surveillance the proposition to stop throwing those found guilty of minor crimes behind bars is something that the women in this penitentiary can definitely get behind but even if the law is implemented the people serving time now may have to face the fact that they will have to serve and pay their debt to society in full without enjoying the benefits of an alternative punishment catarina r.t. moscow region. now to some other world news this hour an explosion has ripped through a coal mine in new zealand self. people are missing five others managed to return to the surface with minor injuries rescue workers were at the scene trying to make contact with the minus the country's emergencies minister says the cause of the

blast is not yet clear. in haiti as a clash with the un peacekeepers on the east. port au prince and anger at the cholera outbreak a country cries for cocktails and rocks while soldiers responded by using tear gas peacekeepers from nepal are being blamed for bringing the deadly epidemic into haiti something that the u.n. strongly denies more than a thousand people are being confirmed dead from the outbreak so far. china usually heavy small does hit the capital there beijing with the reduced visibility causing widespread disruption the air pollution has come from a growing number of factories and villages built on the outskirts of the city two major highways linking the city to the north are being closed health officials have asked people with spiritual problems to stay at home until the small is dispersed by a cold front to saturday. while the u.s. is stretching its finances to from two costly overseas wars huge amounts of cash are also going towards extending its global influence in more subtle ways it's left

many americans wondering whether it's a justifiable use of their tax money in the first of a series of reports that she has explains what's at stake. but. this is what u.s. backed regime change used to look like back in the days in a bid to ensure u.s. political and economic interests were safeguarded cia backed coup d'etat was ousted democratically elected leaders from home in most a dock in iran to sell the door again day in chile. in their place all too often brutal dictatorships and governments that committed heinous crimes against their people. to replace the overt support for dictatorships a new concept for regime change was born one that sounds and looks better democracy promotion we do this through surrogates and we do this through non-governmental organizations and we do it through people who are less suspecting of the evil that

may lurk behind their actions then perhaps they were before. have we learned some lessons of our guard you bet do we do it better you bet is it still just as heinous as it always was you bet the concept of democracy promotion is simple finance train and politically back local opposition forces around the world that support washington's agenda but in america in eastern europe with the velvet revolutions in africa in the middle east all really well over all over the world and so the us set up these different mechanisms now for penetrating the civil societies and the political systems that didn't have countries that are going to be intervened and to assure that the outcomes would be pleasing to to washington's foreign policy objectives so while the goals remain the same it's no longer the cia but the u.s. agency for international development usa id and its partners spearheading this effort millions and millions of u.s. taxpayer dollars go every year into funding for political organizations from

campaigns in different countries around the world that promote u.s. agenda and most us citizens are unaware of the fact that that's how their money is being spent to meddle. and influence and interfere in other nations affairs the concept of facilitating regime change to democracy promotion has garnered widespread criticism congressman ron paul once wrote it is particularly orwellian to call u.s. manipulation of foreign elections promoting democracy how would we americans feel if for example the chinese arrived with millions of dollars to support certain candidates deemed friendly to china oh yes terrible we used taxpayers' money to go over and use our military and our cia and these programs to say this is what you ought to do and influence and there's no authority for that it doesn't work it teaches a lot of people to despise us and tomorrow segment we'll introduce you to the political figures who became national and international stars of the help of u.s. democracy promotion funding and explain exactly how the system works you have

compass our team was going to end this thing. to check out our main stories in about eight minutes from now but in ten minutes from now we'll be talking to nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen about the alliances future before that you know we're joining us with the business news that's after a short break stay with us live here in moscow. for the full story we've gone to. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news maker.

hello and a very warm welcome to the business program trade between former soviet states has accelerated shop of this year at a meeting of c.i.s. prime ministers in st peter's bethlehem approaches set the thirty percent increase was evidence of improved corporation the customs union of russia better ross and kazakhstan forms the new core of regional trade and has not done a whole reports although some thorny issues remain progress is being made. kazakstan arguing to wood's full scale integration and speeding up the next phase of the customs union the single economic space with a free trade area and a common external trade policy the meeting of the prime ministers of the three countries is taking place within the framework of the u. region economic community which also includes kyrgyzstan to because to moldova or of india and ukraine some of these countries are also showing interest in joining

the customs union now the key document is a final agreement on the single economic space of russia belarus and kazakhstan which is due to start functioning next year and to provide more mutually beneficial opportunities for its members in a free trade now i'd like to remind you that the customs union of the trilateral union of russia belarus and kazakstan which came into effect this year has been designed to simplify the movement of capital between the member countries under a unified tariff and customs territory now the creation of the customs union has stirred up the long lasting negotiations on russia's accession to the world trade organization after russia said it would see the accession in a joint. account now according to russia's president would be its a few questions remaining in the negotiations with the european union on the matter and they should be solved quickly at the same time the first year of the customs union has revealed some serious discrepancies current existing export duties on

russian ballerinas almost brought the countries to an oil war eleanor's annually is about twenty million tons of russian domestic prices for two years is only a fraction of it at home most of it is being refined. to europe at much higher prices feeding the budget not today's meeting may finally put an end to the conflict as the russian prime minister has promised to lift all the duties for bella roost on russian soil once all the documents on the single economic space are signed. the customs union doesn't come without costs finance minister believes russian oil companies may have to pay an extra fifteen billion dollars in duties due to tex home and i say show how weather could translate national companies will be compensated for these costs by that subsidy or create some abstraction taxes. there's no point in privatizing russian technology is for the

time being that's according to the head of the state corporation which controls several hundred enterprises and russia. is a show that in libya is that it's not reason to be privatized russian technology is for the time being i would even say could be home for privatization would hinder the development of the enterprise under our control we first have to transform the enterprise into the joint stock companies create holdings and distribute companies between them and help them develop financially. let's take a look at the equity markets here stocks are lower friday following another round of tightening from china that raised investors sounds old the potential impact on demand for commodities. stocks in europe slipped on friday extending a second straight week of drop and more interested as china told banks to set aside more results in an effort to curb inflation. and look at the figures in russia the

russian equity markets close flat to positive on friday as part of the sixteen hundred point benchmark finishing just ten for the percent of my sex and up and down session and and just a little higher. looking back at the last week the russian markets were pulled in both directions with virtually equal force coming data from the us encouraged the bulls while wars and china fueled the. the markets and that of the week slightly down but largely unchanged the past week has seen. the continuation of the tug of war between the blues and the bear is you know there are people who are seeing a lot of our beat economic data coming out of the u.s. coming out of asia a lot of quality a peals a big general motors which is very well received there are a lot of good news in the market and good developments but the biggest fear now is inflation is special in china where the central bank had to act to stop the rapid

increases in prices there is also told that both china and hong kong can take measures to arrest the rest of the growth in real estate prices to prevent the bubble and the soul of between these two kind of big positive over improving global economics and certain positive corporate developments and defeat here of rising inflation in china and therefore maybe elsewhere in the world these two opposing factors have resulted in the share prices and the ending the week slightly down but essentially flat. that's your business update for now what you can always get more store a small website r t dot com slash business. lulu the world.