old out in the smoke in. twenty one year old us a doula started smoking heroin at university six months later he dropped out and does what he can to support his habit. he is one of the million addicts in this country the world's largest producer of opium. as i said my life rizzo's their own this drug i know it's killing me but i can't stop any drug measures of diminished output but it only costs two dollars providing escape for addicts ranging from refugees returning from iran who fled the country's civil war to military veterans to teenagers with little to look forward to. the united nations says it's another threat to afghanistan's long term economic growth and security. it's what we call the coca-cola effect i mean people always talk about the demand creating supply but people forget that supply demand and that's exactly happening in afghanistan i mean if you think about the health issues you think i mean

a chevy is often starting among injecting drug use it has as well to do what you security mean security forces and the high levels of addiction and security forces means that yes you will corrupt your security system so all those elements together means that there's a heavy burden for this country and with the limited resources available it's one more of what they should not have within this country. local city at ixtlan threaten them and the police do nothing more than chase them away or throw them in jail for a day or two then they come right back. today there are an estimated sixty thousand heroin addicts in the afghan capital and that number is rising fast many of them say they want help but the government can do little for them and the handful of rehabilitation clinics that existed just a few hundred beds to offer. the u.n. funded new job centers the largest and best equipped facility in the capital but that's not saying much it can only handle about sixty patients at a time. to enter addicts must submit to

a two months detox occasion but the center's director dr why do. it is a lack of post treatment prospects ensure that over half of the patients fall off the wagon. and we just only get them in a motel the mother relapse is a huge problem there's not much we can offer these people once they leave here like . i said i got ten days treatment before running away to get high again. the international community is focusing on combating the flow of drugs leaving afghanistan but within its borders a battle just as important is being fought with addiction a major hurdle in the country's hope for future stability. jason mattera in call for r.t. russia's top anti-drug enforcers as if nato wants to stop the flow of opium from of ghana stay i must target the drug lords at the top of the chain. because you know the shady place you know the size of the poppy plantations hasn't changed this year

they still cover one hundred twenty three thousand hectares the number of families involved in poppy cultivation has increased by about four thousand for these peasants the fluffy provides the most basic live in this simply struggling for survival and all the talk about the need to create economic incentives for them is simply pointless they work as slaves for the landlords and these are the people we need to find and target and what we propose in nato is to take the land from them. international law and most national legal systems presume that prophecy used for criminal purposes should be confiscated. and in just a few minutes time find out how political standoff between cold war rivals spilled over into decades of conflict. christmas day thirty years ago marked the outbreak of a decades long war in afghanistan more of that from a military contributor the fog plus. several hours to get from the

nearest airport to the casino in southern russia and as you can see you visit and still doesn't look like gamblers paradise. far from tourist areas and far from reality will look at what spoiled the idea of purpose built gambling zones and russia. before that a serious of and i saw that cartoons have appeared in georgia newspapers the latest move in a campaign launched by president saakashvili and then were of soviet monuments have already been dismantled across the country and schoolchildren have been obliged to watch a documentary likening the use are to nazi germany but as r.t. sarah first reports many georgians arness daljit about their soviet past despite the government's attempts to wipe out their history. the destruction savior monuments a law banning savior symbols and now an anticipated documentary and a series of cartoons. papers all part of an anti circuit campaign currently being

led by the cuban government that both the timing and methods of implementation have led many to question its real natives and then you say it's not just anti soviet propaganda but anti russian those conducting this campaign are trying to put russia on a par with the soviet union. it's been two decades since georgian independence and just two years since children attacked south provoking an armed conflict with russia a history of tense relations and these recent events i thought likely to have a bearing on what's now happening. in a local newspaper your favorite general firing it kicks in. with the progress of why and what part of the anti favor campaign has also been accused of being anti russian and of encouraging the public to leave the bigger picture. but many georgians particularly the older generation hold positive memories of saving the

times and saying worked as a police officer in the save the union and was harsh comparisons between the situation then and today we are we look at war and order it was much better in retirement today in the soviet union we had professional unions protecting our rights today we have nobody to take care much for being poisoned with the ideology of the current authorities. for people like angrily the destruction of monuments dedicated to save his soldiers many of whom were themselves georgian is particularly inflammatory they've had to sit by and watch as their memories of the past of richie's to rubble. why do you think big. dismantled these monuments we want to forget our history but we should never forgive. the government his name for his provoked his stance towards russia. the controversial campaign techniques are perhaps

a step too far which they know. that he is true must be honest and true to fact and not one side to all nations united and soviet union are equally guilty for the problems it doesn't make sense to try and blame it on bush but using comic books to facilitate this is appropriate i think the efforts of the government look silly. to a strong emphasis on the negative aspects of the same period might well suit the present political agenda everyone inside georgia is happy with their government's actions. georgia. and you can always find more on this and any other story there we're covering for here on our website here's just a quick look at what's online at r.t. dot com right now. the russian president sums up the year's events in a t.v. interview to find out what he had to say about his personal priorities corruption spies freedom of speech and more. and if you want to get mary with something

a little more sophisticated than they are this christmas party has got the perfect recipe. what an hour to live from moscow as christmas comes a lot of us media appears to be focused on whether or not the christian side of the holidays being deliberately north but many americans say the so-called war on christmas is simply a distraction to divert public attention away from more serious issues are it is due to the soft ski investigates. tis the season to be decided i'm just so enraged by these all these atheist displays i'm trying to push jesus to the back seat on christmas day but people like head humanist roy spec hard say they aren't trying to push jesus anywhere when they see these ads it does

give them pause that it gives them a chance to think about the issue and these issues are plenty two wars record high unemployment and a budget crisis. but apparently the real war although one atheist group is putting a new spin on the war on christmas if you listen to the media this is a cheap way of trying to to take a shot at christmas they don't have any guts if they did so i said they go after the muslims want to stop. and then they he's referring to is the quote unquote other america the folks who want religion out of public life. and on the opposite side of humanity that with all the political correctness here in the united states like the fact that you can't call it a christmas tree anymore you have to call a holiday tree you can't say merry christmas you have to say happy holidays some groups are taking action like this religious group here god and america's leaders dot com this is the web site they created you can log on and take a ten question water bill

a choice quiz about which founding father or politician said it which really just quote but with all that outrage and all the back and forth much of the quote unquote rest of america thinks things probable are politics right now or spoke saying all these moral and religious issues instead of focusing on the actual things like the economy and the wars and things like that is distractions but for those americans who want religion any time any place anywhere it isn't just a distraction there definitely has been a war on christmas for a long time and brian fisher is part of the countless conservative christian organizations that are formed to send this kind of message to single most inclusive thing that you can do this time of year is wish people a merry christmas we think it's appropriate to ask them to leave now. the jesus christ is the reason for the season and the division is particularly evident in the most powerful of places case in point democrats were pushing to work overtime even after christmas and republicans like senator john kyl and jim de mint were pretty

much calling the proposal blasphemous causing this kind of reaction they need to rethink. every bad call group. it moves the. rethinking and perhaps considering that the real battle is much more serious. and it's one that goes on all year round. just for our tea. just. an alaska being bought from russia over a century ago is perhaps another thing many americans are unaware of this christmas the other place itself is alive with a lot of memories of its previous settlers as we were feel a special report later today. it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. tradition

the language. this is the first to compete beat. and culture. the thing is that the have agendas are still unaware of what's going on in their minds they're still asking for more ideas. like this i don't know if you but alas the great. one are cheap. and introduced two years ago russia's gambling ban has been widely declared a failure in the isolated locations of the four official gambling zones have manned that they failed to live up to expectations now so worries are looking at shifting casinos closer to tourist areas to combat thriving illegal businesses artie's down as the reports. stacks of cash and roofs of one are bandits federal security service agents breached an illegal casino in will screw eighteen

months ago a strict gambling law meant casinos in russia could only exist in four special zones but it failed then the show idea to build gambling zones far away from residential areas just didn't work it takes several hours to get from the nearest airport to this casino in southern russia and as you can see this is still doesn't look like a gambler spared. the distance according to regional authorities almost killed the whole idea. of transportation is the key factor today we have a steady flow of gamblers coming to this casino enough to make the project worthwhile but that's not the zone's full capacity plus months russian president medvedev approved a war relocating the only functioning gambling zone in the russian south now the zone will be closer to tourist destinations which travel to the city of an up on the black sea coast which according to locals may very well become the new and hopefully more successful version of the russian vegas. and winter time the place

looks a bit depressing but are not as deputy mayor is certain that his city does have a potential for developing gambling industry. in the village obligations with its one thousand hectares of vacant land lot is just five minutes away from the airport there is also a railway line and a highway passing through an opera for resort hosting the gambling project is a good opportunity to make an alp accessible the year round up until now only been able to fill the hotels for me talk tolbert but because you know the season will stretch up to twelve months. these fields have been prepared for a large scale construction by a peninsula with the yellow sand beaches that attract thousands of the future golden sands gambling zone will also include russian style being park hotels shopping malls and restaurants authorities admit however that the news though it will be more or less just like the old one unless the illegal casinos disappear and

this may require more legislative work to stop because he knows from operating where they shouldn't be wish there was that is the point that you have come up with a proposal to introduce stricter punishment for the organizers of the underground gambling dens so far almost one hundred percent of these individuals have been able to avoid serious punishment by disguising their businesses as lottery clubs or internet cafes although there is still no deadline. the golden sands project isn't especially stay just the region up to mystic they are certain that it may take less than three years to build this new gamblers paradise on the black sea coast but with a huge and powerful underground gambling industry it's still unclear whether the news will be the right bet for russia does the world ski or t cross the region. and this christmas marks thirty years since the beginning of the soviet tam payne in afghanistan the country was great by civil war at the time and the government asked the u.s.s.r. for support the us intervene and decades

a lot of ghana's dana still torn by conflict are his military contributor of getting herself who fought in the country says little has changed u.s. policy over the years. the least expected guests at the christmas parties since nineteen seventy nine what they soviet spits snobs who commands the most successful special forces operation. back on christmas night in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine ironically it was not only a smashing success for the joint. task force it was a tactical success for their opposite numbers back in langley washington d.c. the nine hundred seventy nine christmas party was celebrated as the beginning of the new era of entrapping this soviet union in afghanistan as a way to revenge for the united states failure in vietnam and as the beginning of this so-called wilson war otherwise known as the anti soviet jihad and their proxy

war against the soviet union in afghanistan conducted by the united states and their allies it's really symbolic that they're wilson's war their war part one and part two the current u.s. counterinsurgency both those stages of personalized by robert gates who used to be of the cia coordinator of the anti savia jihad in afghanistan and in this century presides over the pentagon in his new capacity merry christmas to you all who have been involved one way or another into the tragedy of afghanistan and its people. if any of there and still a combo of the sour here in r t a way to escape the apocalypse. if you could go with the sort of most.

of the world those loyal recalled the doomsday cups are to me to russian engineer offer as an unusual means of salvation from the end of the world which many believe is nine. now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world imagine traveler as you are will be celebrating christmas at airport terminals as heavy snow continues to prevent planes from taking off a shortage of chemicals meant hundreds of flights were canceled in paris and europe second busiest international hub the problem was made worse by workers at france's main anti-freeze factory going on strike travelers have also been stranded in ireland in denmark and germany's dusseldorf airport has been closed due to the weather. the ivory coast opposition leader has called the army to protect civilians against foreign mercenaries and militia ataru has been recognized as the

winner of last month's disputed elections was the incumbent. refusing to step down from the presidency west african leaders threatened to use legitimate force to remove both with regions central bank cutting off axis is funds one hundred seventy three deaths have been confirmed in violence over the vote. hands of thousands of tourists have converged on bethlehem to celebrate christmas mass at the birthplace of jesus a midnight mass led by the catholic church's top tourist in the holy land is considered the peak of the festive town and in china hundreds of christians crammed into a store in beijing cathedral while those who didn't get in braved subzero temperatures to watch the festive mass and screens and world wide celebrations mark the end of christmas eve which leads into the christmas day holiday. and while the world celebrates christmas some are more worried about what they call

eminent armageddon one man perceiving the threat after reading ancient predictions of staying in awe himself to guarantee humanity's survival failing that his invention can always be turned into an eight hundred thousand dollar sata. ports the ancient mayan calendar predicts that on twenty first of december twenty twelve the world will and. the earth will suffer cataclysmic events floods the options and earthquakes that will wipe out almost everyone but some are getting ready to survive the apocalypse a few kilometers outside of moscow on an abandoned battery farm and an invention has been made which will save humanity when the end of the world doesn't i behold the doomsday capsule the military engineer by training is gaining a big says he's a genius and that the large trajan collider controls the world weather good with

that many loft when he showed us his proposal for the live capsule one year ago now he's built it he says people are taking him seriously yeah we can see kids got four layers of insulation he can float roll down here and learn down without being damaged. and of course it can't be destroyed by tremors. all make mistakes teams this is where the show will be and the air purification systems you can house up to four people some forty days and eighty thousand dollars will be kept has recruited a band of neighbors who've already booked their places in the capsule of i was scared off twenty two out we have to be ready. yeah there's a going to die we will survive. the end of the end of the way doesn't come in two years you get any sense is capsules can be used as soon as industrial fridges and recommends that the government orders several thousand immediately either of the

moscow region well that brings us up to date here in our new member morgan always turn to our web site r t v dot com time now for a business of day with your honor. hello welcome to the business program. gazprom has announced gas price cost of fifteen percent for estonia and should gas deliveries resume pre-crisis levels the gas giant stated that last year has already committed itself to increasing consumption to the levels of two thousand and seven prices for baltic neighbors lithuania and belarus however would not change gazprom said any discounts for these countries would only be discussed once existing contracts ended and new price formulas were calculated. and staying with gazprom the company has announced it will spend six point five billion dollars or one quarter of its investment program for two

thousand and eleven on the development of your mall peninsula refineries the deposits situated in the northwest of siberia are considered to be the most lucrative in the country. and officials at russia's first liquefied natural gas projects say foreign investors can take part in its expansion the governor of the country is far east said shell could participate in the construction of three plants as well as expand into shell sold a majority share in the project to gas probs several years ago but retains a blocking stake. let's take a look at the markets but my sex ended flat after closing marginally in the red on friday down just under a half percent and a fourteen straight week of gains the r.t.s. fared better finishing in the black point twenty three percent wrapping up a successful trading week trading volumes were light as investors prepare for the holidays. and russian markets hardly moved this week as investors were buying

gas for christmas and new year rather than stocks maxime orlowski from wraps up the week filmy due to bordeaux. this week was relatively calm and that's mostly because the majority of the market players example large ones from europe and the us on christmas holiday season are really changed as we would treat volumes very little but also. one of the interesting events of this week was the disclosure of china's from the alleged merger between. units which longer don't just talk to these companies. and positive price outlook for russian commodities including oil spills a continued appreciation of the russian ruble the head of the london school of economics believes that the russian ruble has strong prospects for becoming a hedge currency. i think the ruble can be an interesting hedge against other currencies but also for there to be a lot of russian bonds traded internationally and russian equities traded

internationally because of the assets for people to buy to hold these massive reserves and i don't think at the moment there are enough assets for the ruble to become a very significant reserve currency. and that's all the business news for now but you can always join us for more nose at r.t. dot com slash business stay with us.

it's it can hit doctors why policemen smile ministers why i just. if you couldn't find me if i could just live through the night that i would get my kids out of here because i knew. what was going to happen was that he was going to kill me many victims don't understand that domestic violence includes verbal abuse psychological abuse physical abuse and sexual abuse at least four million women are affected by abuse every year those are my only two options that i saw at that moment either i'm going to kill him i'm in jail or he's going to killing me. for the. we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

watching r.t. coming to live from moscow i'm reading these are the top stories ghana stands cheap heroin is depriving thousands of locals of a future besides flooding other countries the desperate situation is a reflection a made for africa to tackle the problem says russia's top and a drug enforcement. from dismantling historic monuments to strip propaganda and i saw that campaign in georgia gathers pace with russia seemingly prime target

but a growing number of people say the authorities attempts to rewrite history are going too far. and reports of a war being waged on christmas have been all over the headlines in the u.s. this. holiday season but many americans believe the hype is just to divert the public's attention from more pressing problems. as we had lines next martin anders explores ways to have a perfect christmas in the russian capital and the moscow that's next.