bushell is following developments for ati. police here in brussels say they busted an islamic terrorist cell tied to russia's republic of chechnya which is planning attacks through three throughout europe so it is swooped on fifteen people suspect of recruiting jihad is to fight in iraq and afghanistan it comes just hours after all sorties launched pre-dawn raid on homes of another eleven suspects who were tied to a cicily are linked in its work the belgian prosecutor's office said quote there were an international terrorist group using its stream internet site and saw al mujahideen to plan an attack it comes as part of massive coordinated raids across europe in countries like the netherlands denmark and germany where a thirty one year old russian man of chechen origin was arrested suspected of training jihad this to fight terrorist campaigns those arrested or belgian moroccan and russian origin this is seen as among the first top level links that

police have found between russia's chechen. rebel organizations and the worldwide al qaeda network to say those arrested are suspected of gathering recruits and money to finance a chechen terrorist organization called the caucasus emirate in effect to found a separate islamic state based on the surreal law in the south of russia and it comes in the wake of horrific attacks in russia from those moscow metro bombings that we saw earlier this year two increasingly but bloody suicide blasts in russia's southern republics of the i guess don and chechnya of the one of those attacks russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov said that those chechen linked groups were based and was standing very much in line with al qaida but after that the united states but chechen rebel leader dog or more are on the most wanted list of terrorists but it's really taken this set of events in the past twenty four

hours to show that russia's chechen terrorists works all standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. well counterterrorism analyst dr edwin baca says the group arrested on tuesday as part of a global network that's trying to expand its operations of course they are part of this global jihad of which al qaeda is the main i can they are not only recruiting chechens to go back to fight to church but they also recruiting other people in this case possibly people would have dutch moroccan background so in that sense they're not only part of a local struggle they're part of a global jihad and church now is to focus for some of these groups who have fruit in europe with nothing to do with church and so it's more international and these foreign supporters they want these groups very much to make it as international as possible. russia is the leader says the country's democracy is on the right path

but needs improving to avoid stagnation he said main message from president get is the latest video blog which is just been posted online well arty's this one another has been watching. in his address russian president dmitry medvedev mainly spoke about the need to modernize russia's political system with the help of gradual but still reforms but also to make sure that a stable political system doesn't mean that it's the naysaying without him zelig enough a british school system or we simply want to make our political system more fair more flexible more dynamic and more open to renewal and development he must enjoy the confidence of our lecturing it is no secret that for some time now signs of stagnation have begun to appear in our political life has to pretty has threatened to turn into stagnation with. the national president also spoke about the freedom of speech in the country the need to improve the quality of popular representation have stronger opposition forces and to simply have

a better political competition in more rights for political minorities. if the overseas and has no chance at all of winning a fair fight it degrades and becomes marginal or if the ruling party never loses a single election it is just coasting ultimately to degrades just like any living organism which remains static for these reasons it's become necessary to raise the degree of political competition with the question president has also said that the ruling party in russia should not simply as a supplement to the executive power let's hear a list on the bills have been complete that that made major amendments to the multi-party political system on a nationwide scale and the key points of those amendments for decreasing the human factor in those counting providing more rights to political minorities and minimizing the risks of elections money relations politicians this is still more i

hope that our political system has been improved quite significantly as a result of these adjustments i am absolutely sure that it has become more open and flexible because of the. ultimately it is also become more. and more more points i made. it democracy is imperfect and we are absolutely but we're still at the beginning of the route the most important thing is that we are not standing still we are going forward. will of course this address comes at a very important time for washer is there electro period is approaching parliamentary elections will take place in december two thousand and eleven and this is when all the amendments that have been introduced this year will be taken to the test parties and to another type of that and to watch president have full video blog on russian democracy for yourself head for r.t. dot com chris taste of what's also waiting for you on our website eighteen months on in the reset tween russia and the u.s.

we look at whether it's really working get x. but what could lie ahead. of the world's most infamous nuclear power plant gets a new safety cap twenty four years old going to europe with radiation to report on the deadly dangers that still within chernobyl. south korea says it has discovered the bodies of two civilians and one of its border islands shelled by north korea pyongyang claims the attack which took place on tuesday was in response to seoul foreign weapons during military drills near the frontier to south korean marines were also killed by the shelling so hit back with artillery fire but certain details about casualties on the northern side of real

international community is demanding the two countries maintain their cool to prevent a new war breaking out on the peninsula but long warned that will strike again if the south violates the border by so much as a millimeter well r.t. contributor wayne madsen believes the south korean president is using the incident for his own political interests. we've got the korean peninsula though those two countries north and south are still in a state of war up there was only an armistice signed. russia and china king talked to the north to get them to back down but we also have to have the united states put pressure on president lee myung bak of south korea because he's been very warlike he unlike his predecessors who were trying to open up to the north in a policy of sunshine diplomacy across borders. special economic zones this particular president south korea is very aggressive very right wing and very unpopular at home and the only thing he has going for him

is to boost his image by getting into a military showdown with the north. coming up in a few minutes getting a good grounding before blasting off. the next crew of the i assess of being cleared for launch this next stop the launch get all the details with us in just a minute. protests against austerity measures that are once more in cities across europe a twenty four hour general strike is underway in portugal in the public sector pay cuts and tax rises two days before parliament votes on a severe new budget strike is set to cause the biggest disruption in the country for two decades meanwhile unrest is building in the u.k. of the government's proposals to increase university tuition fees let's cross live now to london where we're joined by ben beach who's organizing some of the demonstrations there hello to you mr beecher two weeks ago protesters clashed with police in the u.k.'s worst writes in years what is it about the british

government's proposals that have angered student protesters so much. good morning well what we're seeing at the moment is possibly the biggest attack in higher education in decades at the moment of much of four point three billion pounds stands to be cut from the university funding budget this amounts an eight percent cut in teaching and the threat of closure of thousands of institutions across the country in addition to ration fees are being raised as much as nine thousand pounds a year it will settle students with crippling debt of as much as forty thousand pounds before they graduate this is an option is simply going to close off our education to millions of students worldwide as well as in the united kingdom. the main reason for this measure being introduced as a response to the banking bailout and the need to reduce our deficit but what is being asked of the millions of students is not even finished at school are going to be asked to pay for their education for a banking crisis they did nothing to create ok but the anger and frustration about the government panel says the government does say that the spending cuts are necessary to reduce the country's massive budget deficit something clearly needs to

be done so where do you think the money should come from. well i question the need about the origin of the deficit itself i mean it's important to remember that up until two thousand and seven the conservative government approved every single labor government spending review the thing that triggered the massive rise the deficit was the one point four trillion pounds the bank of england have spent bailing out the banks now the last time the deficit was of this size the nine hundred ninety three and our economy recovered fully and withstood it so the argument to slash and burn is kind of falling apart the international monetary fund possessed a mate of every one pound cut from the u.k. economy at the moment six pounds will be lost from overall economic growth the austerity measures in the cuts do not appear to make any sense on the rational logical argument so it is and there is a god you are going to do you expect today's protests erupt into violence i mean do violent methods really achieve anything. do violent methods really achieve anything

well while so do not necessarily support them the argument has been made with the poll tax riots which did achieve a repeal or even the suffragette movement which used violence to win the vote for women now there is a distinct possibility that if the wishes of the british people are ignored again then the protests will erupt into violence the liberal democrats made an explicit election pledge to reduce tuition fees and attempt to scrap them all together and actively canvas the votes of many students with strong them into power with this pledge but despite this two months before the general election they were actively planning with the conservatives to tear up this agreement if you plead ignore it and trying to figure out the politicians lie to the british be right ok now obviously these things are happening across europe as well and austerity measures are being adopted by several european countries trying to bolster their ailing economies who do you think is to blame for the crisis i think we need to look at the system itself the banking crisis is ultimate cause of the recession and it's

been a knowledge of many times over the course specks of bets me through things like derivatives a massive state being put in things like the housing market the root cause of the system the problems in the system not really been identified the staffs baze all three treaty has been attempting to address the problems within system and stabilize the banking sector has been criticized by many of the ineffective even so it will not come into force until twenty nineteen so people across europe are being asked essentially to pay for a crisis they have very little party creating and we're seeing no change to the root causes of this at the same time billions are still being paid out to bonuses for public and banks now some of the richest men in society well the poor and the unemployed are facing massive cuts of that benefit ok we'll have to leave it there for now thank you very much indeed ben beecher student protests organiser in the u.k. thank you. still ahead for you this hour a tide of change. after decades of mismanagement of the water is in one of the

world's largest land logged these went away and took a gigantic fishing industry but now coming back and when the frantic join me in the air all feed in federal aid. now and let's bring you up to date on some other international stories this hour. all twenty nine workers trapped underground in a new zealand coal mine or thought died after a second gas explosion police say no one could have survived what is described as an her last anything gas had been swirling in the pike river colorists since the first blast last friday which prevented rescue attempts as the country's worst mining accident in a century. cambodian investigators are trying to discover what started the stampede that claimed more than three hundred seventy lives during the country's underwater festival tragedy struck when thousands of people panicked as they tried to cross a bridge causing

a huge crowd search most of the victims were crushed while others drowned that is there has been declared a national day of mourning. georgia's parliamentary opposition is demanding an investigation into allegations of a racy scandal involving the country's delegation to the recent nato summit in lisbon a portuguese newspaper claims that georgians hired eighty prostitutes to attend a massive party the set of ended early off the french delegation headed by president sarkozy complained about the noise of the hotel where the alleged party took place is said to be one of the most luxurious in the country and the georgian foreign ministry is yet to comment on this county. over the last half century a central asians are all sea front vestal off its original size as a soviet irrigation plants then drain the water was once one of the world's largest lakes receiving water as devastated the region's prosperous fishing industry

unemployment and economic hardship as our teens in france reports today the sea is returning and with it some hope it starts with sun up these men fish in one of the worst manmade environmental disaster areas ever known all through the sea it just started out and then a true turn could be brought to see back to us when central asia became the center of the soviet union's plan for cotton cultivation it nearly drunk dry the rivers feeding the erroll see what covered sixty eight thousand square kilometers in one nine hundred sixty around the size of southern california shriveled to attend of its size by the mid one nine hundred ninety s. nearly disappearing by the year two thousand here where the greater and lesser seas split there's just enough left for modern technology to make a stab at regenerating it in two thousand and five the cocoa round dam was constructed to trap what little water still flows into the lesser sea from the

searing river locked safely inside the water is growing to witness the results you must drive hours over rough sea bed then there it is bright blue the fishing villages might be in ghost towns now but groups of men in numbers of about twenty to thirty camped out at the newly rehabilitated beaches and catch they have about one hundred kilo is a day until they've earned enough money to survive and they go back home they live in dugout hats even in the coldest of winter but this new career means food on the table for young armont he was born long after commercial fishing had ceased. i've been fishing for two years my grandfather was a fisherman but he died right now we all work for a month straight living at the shore and then have a week off that's when i go home to our ask we don't get a salary we had piece work payment twenty species of fish now wriggle out of the

water and into the hands of the grandfathers of this industry still around to pull out the nets once again carp bream pike catfish. fisherman are returning to their homeland for a new way of the seas providing us with work and profit again they even say it will come back to our desk in a round the silent still stuns the locals no waves no boats yet after i served my term in the army i came back and the water was no longer here that was nine hundred seventy three old people said that it wasn't the first time they will see had gone they see the sea will be back and maybe we will live to see the good times and life will be even better we do hope. the water has twenty kilometers to go until it's back. it's impossible to restore the entire aerial sea or to make it the way to used to be if with least the northern part remains it will

help solve many problems in central asia but while the industrial might of the past cannot be restored in full it will once again become important it may never be what it once was but the arrow scene now boasts two thousand men who now fish for their living for them that's enough when de france r.t. kazakstan. now then its final test time for the crew who are lining up to be the next to journey to the international space station there at russia's star city training center right now getting the onceover head of december blast off well arty's tom barton is there to. three crew yes they have a century being given the clearance to go ahead into their flight in december the tests that they've had to undergo always quite a trial they've had to really just prove that they are absolutely familiar with what they're going to have to do on the flight up there and then on their i assess so on the module for this mission they've been going through drills have to be very

quick to have to know the craft like the back of their hand and they proved that they they do know that dimitri kondracke it is his first mission even though he's the commander of the mission he's very experienced in his field though and he's been a backup crusader for also catherine coleman from nasa this is her. time in space and paolo nespoli an italian second time the three of them have a lot to do up there it's going to be a very very busy time up there they're going to have to manage some docking when they're up there and do a lot of science experiments so they need to be absolutely familiar with all of the technical things that they're going to have to do they're also though very proud to be part of this mission when it comes to two thousand and eleven next year it'll be fifty years since your it was the first man in space and as we heard a little earlier from paolo nespoli when we talked to him in the press conference

he personally is very proud to be part of that ongoing tradition it's an honor for me to be here in star seat if you were a lot of these stars that walk on the seams there then you're going to continue with is this venture in space i'm looking forward to it is all the other astronauts will be on the space station be there and be your views of everybody here on earth as it was you were going when he flew fifty years ago and that was very much the sentiments of all three crewmembers that they're very proud to carry on their tradition of going to space and as he said representing humanity up there . bottom that russia which aims to say. the world's tiger population is heading into its final day and one hollywood topcat demonstrated his dedication to protecting the animals from extinction instead of supporter of the tigers plight leonardo dicaprio no less enjoyed a rough journey to petersburg which saw is playing catch fire with another almost run out of fuel when his first flight to russia had to turn back to new york an

engine shutdown claims the start then switched to a small private jet but strong winds over the atlantic when the airplane used up too much fuel was forced to land in finland one refueling stop later in the hollywood hero eventually made it to st petersburg. protonic during the summit won him praise from russian prime minister putin. mr de caprio not just came to us but simply burst through the front line excuse me if i may but in our country people usually say that's what we call a real. and i think that of people with such character would be responsible for defending nature or a tiger in this particular case we're destined for success. next the latest business. here in moscow welcome to our business program that was start with an arctic

seclusive the president of the world bank group robert zoellick told business r.t. russia is now playing a more active role in global eight. i think the deputy prime minister could hear and has started a process but also with the foreign ministry and prime minister and president that is very important which is as russia's economy recovers and grow stronger how we engage you know there are some particular areas of interest to economic literacy you would get some support from russia in the anti-malaria being with africa but i'd give you a good example we're working with russia now and some of the central asian countries which obviously been very dependent on remittances from russia but have gone through some very difficult economic times so what i find encouraging is that russia is seen as it wants to move into the aid and development field that wants to do so in concert with others. let's look at the markets now asian stocks are mixed on wednesday tokyo and seoul market's been a slower but recovered from earlier sell offs japan's nikkei closed point eight

percent in the red and south korea's speak composition and that point two percent lower among exporters olympos fell point six percent shed nearly three percent last point nine percent but as peter memory games one point three percent by the close up of the weakness. in europe stocks are higher following heavy losses in the previous two sessions among shares on the move u.k. food service company called group chazz are up three point four percent after lifting its dividend payout by a third of the shops around six percent after reports that the irish government will take a majority stake in the matter. here in russia markets are trading lower in the afternoon session retreating from earlier gains most of the blue chips are in the red on them isaacs with noise making it look hyper bucked the trend. balance pretax profits at large and medium russian companies grew by more than a hundred during the first nine months of the year that's according to a report by states that states it is tick service wholesale retail and real estate

companies have made the biggest impact on the growth. germany's elan may so it's taken russia's debt. giant gas problem daily reports the potential buyer is ve been back on currently owns three and a half percent and gas paul wells largest eternity's selling off assets in order to compensate its falling earnings earlier the company's chief said the stake in gas problem was lost a teacher with a company to expand in china brazil. as staying with gas moscow and beijing are likely to agree on the price of russian gas supplies to china before the middle of next year the news came up to russia and china and chinese prime ministers held talks on tuesday in st petersburg where energy relations top the agenda but in a question has the details of the latest round of energy dialogue between russia and china hasn't brought what many analysts were anticipating and pricing policy

both sides find suitable on tuesday prime minister putin signed that negotiations between gazprom and china national betrayal and company are going according to plan . the energy between our countries developing quite successfully we have finished construction of the pipelines go to you know that scene starting from the first of january two thousand and eleven the first supplies of russian oil will arrive in china the negotiations between gastro in c. and b.c. are going on successfully we are also thinking to develop nuclear energy corp but the main focus is future gas trade gazprom and see m.p.c. signed a framework agreement last year for shipment of natural gas to china the deal could see seventy billion cubic meters of russian natural gas sun to china annually this size i haven't disclosed the price at which they want to sell and buy but their differ by one hundred dollars for one thousand cubic meters of gas both parties

think that they can tackle the pricing dispute by the middle of next yeah meanwhile a distant transportation system is needed. successfully sent russian gas to china one future route could be the old type light line construction is supposed to start in twenty eleven it will start from russia's western siberia and x. breed gas to northwestern china next summer. supply demand picture in europe will be a lot more visible will have a lot more time to forecast from will have a lot more time to commerce reality of the new market is going to be even more dick copland retreat for a price of gas prices in the european markets and i think chinese have or will get stronger from this on some gas from once again stressed that china is the focus of its future growth and it seems the asian pacific region is where a future an energy cooperation will grow between other global oil and gas players.

business r.t. . that's all we have time for in this edition of business but you can always find most always on our website i did accomplish this let's watch.

sweet and clean. and fair use for. the radioactive and dangerous. and even dead and desolate. they all keep their unique secrets of their bottoms unique lakes on our team in the united kingdom is available in the house bill and moving the forty one hotel room to the old waverly hotel they can also turn the mill stone who took some of the old country house full of am the bull to old government homes the rim brands the crimson the chairs to feel the montague photo the old film the rubens hotel.

so there you are with are taking your let's take the main headlines now belgian authorities arrest twenty six people for an edge of the plotting terror attacks in the christmas period the suspects are members of a radical islamic network set of links to international terrorist organizations and chechen militants. the russian president says he recognizes the countries in the factions are conspiring to reform the political system in his own long blog internet yet it intrudes signs stagnating democracy promises to develop a fairer and more dynamic model for the future. under sea change in central asia the dried out desolate used to be one of the world's largest one isn't it slowly coming back to not serve its irrigation strength of eight decades ago severely damaging the fishing industry which is now reviving.