heroin addicts huddled under blankets to keep the cold 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 drug i know it's killing me but i can't stop anti drug measures of diminished output but a hit only costs two dollars providing an 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.t.v.'s often starting among

injecting drug use it has as well to do what you security mean security forces and the high levels of addiction in the 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 that external and 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 exist have just a few hundred beds to offer. the u.n. funded new job sensors 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 detoxification but the center's director dr weil doula has shown this is a lack of post treatment prospects ensure that over half of the patients fall off the wagon. and we just only get on top of the relapse is a huge problem there's not much we can offer these people once they leave here as a doula 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 in kabul for r.t. . and russia stop anti-drug enforcer says if nato wants to stop the flow of opium from afghanistan must target the drug lords at the top of the chain. what should people see 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 and for these peasants the true if you provide the most basic living is simply struggling for survival and all the talk about the need to create economic incentives for them to simply be pointless because they work as slaves for the land and these are the people we need to find them and what we're proposing. from the. international law and most national legal systems. used for criminal purposes should be confiscated. and christmas day is thirty one years ago mark the break of a decades long war in afghanistan. or a contributor body in a country discusses how a political standoff between cold war rivals spilled over into decades of conflict . takes several hours to get from with. russia and as

you can see still doesn't look like. from tourist areas and from reality we'll look at once while the idea of purpose built gambling sounds in russia. before that a series of anti sabia cartoons have appeared in georgia newspapers the latest move in a campaign launched by president saakashvili a number of soviet monuments have already been dismantled across the country and schoolchildren have been obliged to watch a documentary likening the u.s.s.r. to nazi germany but as r.t. sarah ferguson reports many georgians are in the. past the spike the government's attempts to wipe out their history. the destruction is save yet monuments a law banning savior symbols and now an anticipated documentary and a series of cartoons in local newspapers part of an anti said it campaign currently being led by the government that both the timing and methods of implementation have

led many to question its real natives. 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 julian independence and just two years since georgia tech so that's yet provoking an armed conflict with russia and history of tense relations and these recent events thought likely to have a bearing on what's now happening. in a local paper. general like. for this white. campaign. being anti russia and of encouraging the public like the bigger picture. but many georgians particularly the older generation positive memories say of me at

times and saying what is a police officer in the save the union and jules harsh comparisons between the situation then and today we are we know more and order 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 us soldiers many of whom were themselves georgian is particularly inflammatory they had to sit by and watch as their memories of the past of richie's to rubble. why do you think they've dismantled these monitors we want us to forget our history but we should never forget. the georgian government his name for his provoked his stance towards russia. the controversial campaign techniques are perhaps a step too far to say now. that the history must be honest and true to fact not one

sided all nations united and soviet union are equally guilty for. the problems it doesn't make sense to try and blame it all on bush but using comic books to facilitate this is appropriate i think the efforts of the government looks fairly. close to strong emphasis on the negative aspects of the savior period might well suit the present political agenda everyone inside georgia is happy with their government's actions south. georgia. and i can always find more on this in our as there are stories 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 euro's advance in a t.v. interview find out what i have to say about his personal priorities corruption by freedom of speech and more. and if you want to give mary with something a little more sophisticated than the year of this christmas party has got the

perfect recipe. now is christmas comes a lot of us media appears to be focused on whether or not the christian side of the holidays being deliberately ignored but many americans say the so-called war on christmas is simply add a structure into the public attention away from war serious problems are investigates. tis the season to be divided i'm just so enraged by these all these atheist displays in trying to push jesus to the back seat on christmas day but people like head humanist roy speck 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 the issues are plenty two wars record high unemployment and a budget crisis approaching but apparently the real guru. well there are 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 that they did so i said they go after the muslims. and the v.a. 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 now 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 want to pull 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 we're focusing all these moral and religious issues instead of focusing on the actual things like the economy and the wars and these like badasses 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 the 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 knowledge that 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 you

need to rethink it does everybody calm groups. it may lose rethinking and perhaps considering that the real battle is much more serious. and it's one that goes on all year round. just for r. t. d. and a soft first alaska being bought for rochelle over a century ago is perhaps another thing many americans are unaware of this christmas that the place itself is alive with a lot of memories of its previous settlers as we reveal in a special report later today. it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. tradition the language you visit the first day compete could be. culture.

the thing is. the have the dinners are still unaware of what's going on in their lives you're still asking me. it's like. i don't know you but. they're great. introduced two years ago russia's gambling ban has been widely declared a failure the isolated locations of the four official gambling zones at mantes that they failed to live up to expectations now authorities are looking at shifting casinos closer to tourist areas the combat thriving illegal businesses. reports. stacks of cash and rows of one armed bandits federal security service agents freed an illegal casino in moscow eighteen months ago a strict gambling law meant casinos in russia could only exist in four special zones but it failed then nissho idea to build gambling. 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 the zone still doesn't look like gamblers paradise the distance according to regional authorities almost killed the whole idea some of the transportation is a 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 month 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. in the winter time the police looks a bit depressing but i'm not as deputy mayor is certain that his city does have a potential for developing gambling industry at. the village obligations with its

one thousand hectares of very complex is just five minutes away from the airport there is also a railway line and a highway passing through on the. resort hosting the gambling project there's a good opportunity to make a mountain accessible year round these fields have been prepared for large scale construction by a peninsula with the yellow sand beaches that attract thousands like now the future golden sands of gambling zones will also include a russian style theme park and hotels shopping malls and restaurants authorities admit however that the news those will be worthless 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 pushed i was to push the point that you have come up with a proposal to introduce strict to be honest be able to use the organizers of the under is an example and then just wish me well so far almost one hundred percent of these individuals that enable to go on his promise to look up yours and i disguise

in their businesses as a lot of ways a lot of superintending. although there is still no deadline and we're going to send the project as an isp early stages see if the regions of dorothy's are up to misty will be a 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 that russia does belong to keep are to cross the region. this christmas marks thirty one years since the beginning of the saudi campaign in afghanistan the country was gripped by civil war at the time of the soviet intervention came as a shock to the u.s. and the subsequent campaign changed the life of the country for decades to come artist military contributor in vienna herself who fought in afghanistan looks back at how it all began. the list expected guests of the christmas parties since nineteen seventy nine while the summit spetznaz who commands the most successful

special forces operation. back on christmas night in one thousand nine hundred seventy 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 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 there wilson's war of the war part one and part two of the current u.s. counterinsurgency both of those stages up 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. well still to come this hour here in r.t.e. a way to escape the apocalypse the apocalypse. the big killer with a lot of must go about three other veterans relabel to save humanity and the world is lloyd recalled the do big. party needs to rush in and give your offer is an unusual means of salvation from the end of the world which many believe is not. now a sequel to some other stories from around the world and at least forty one people have been killed and seventy injured in

a suicide blast in northwest pakistan near the afghan border the explosion went off outside the u.n. world food program office in the town of car while locals were waiting for supplies to be distributed the suicide bomber is believed to be a woman and a comes a day after clashes between pakistani taliban insurgents and security forces in a neighboring region that left thirty five dead. many travelers throughout europe will be celebrating christmas at airport terminals as heavy snow continues to prevent planes from taking off a shortage of the icing chemicals and hundreds of flights were canceled in paris at europe's second busiest international hub the problem was made worse by workers at france's main and freeze factory going on strike travelers have also been stranded in denmark and germany airport has been closed due to the weather. the ivory coast opposition leader is called on the country's army to protect

civilians against foreign mercenaries and militia although satara has been recognized as the winner of last month's disputed presidential election. is refusing to step down west african leaders threatened to use didn't force to remove . region central bank cutting off his access to funds one hundred seventy three people have died in post-election. violence in the country. can the fountains of pilgrims have converged on bethleham to celebrate christmas day at the birthplace of jesus midnight mass led by the catholic church's top priest in the holy land is considered the peak of the festival fans in town in china hundreds of christians ram into store things you can see while those who couldn't get in braved subzero temperatures to watch the festive mass on screens of a world wide celebration of mark the and of christmas eve which leads into the

christmas day holiday. while the world celebrates christmas some are more concerned with what they call impending armageddon one man who learned of the threat from ancient texts has taken on self a guarantee humanity survival failings as his invention can always be turned into an eighty thousand dollar sauna reports. the ancient mayan calendar predicts that on twenty first of december twenty twelve the world will and . suffer cataclysmic events floods the option of an earthquake that will wipe out almost everyone but someone getting ready to survive the apocalypse a few kilometers outside of moscow on an abandoned battery farm an invention has been made which will save humanity when the end of the world does not i behold the doomsday capsule a military engineer by training. says he's

a genius and that the large trajan collider controls the world whether he admits 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't. fool lives of insulation he can float roll down here and learn upside down without being damaged. of course we can't be destroyed by tremors. all make mistakes seems this is where the show will be and the air purification systems you can house people some days and causes eighty thousand dollars became has recruited a band of neighbors already took their places in the capsule above i was i'm scared of twenty two out we have to be ready. yeah there's going to dying out we will survive. and of the end of the world doesn't come into years you get any says his capsules can be used as saunders or industrial fridges and recommends that the

government orders several thousand immediately either there are no. more scary. well we are up to date now here in our tease from organelles during our web site which is r t dot com right now a sequel is happening in business for ron is here with us. hello welcome to the business program i'm sure on a key on this year's christmas shopping has shown that russians are not yet spending as much as they did before the crisis however russia has one of the longest winter holiday periods in the world a lot of retailers and restaurants to make fortunes during that period tachyon employer called the reports. many russians start celebrating christmas with the rest of the world all due to its official december. then move into the new year's festivities and then of course celebrate their old russian orthodox christmas all

the seventh of january military wakes holidays make for expanding holiday shopping in russia will do three tell sales by forty two percent this december which is ten percent higher than the same period last year clothing purchases and food retail will grow over fifty percent this month whereas toy sales will increase a whopping one hundred sixty three percent but russian shoppers are no longer as impulsive as they used to be before the crisis. this year every russian will spend an average around three hundred and eighty five euros on holiday shopping which is just five euros more than in the crisis year of two thousand and nine. but this is still twenty percent lower than for example german spend on presents and festive dinners additionally russians will still be on holiday for more than a week after the new year while most european countries return to full time work

analysts say such long holidays are merely a luxury when considering that russians do do people are capital is still very poor this drunken week as some call it cost the economy about one percent of g.d.p. annually but for now that last since peanuts compared with the almost full two percent growth which most consumer sectors are currently enjoying in russia that's the business are to. and russian stock markets had a quiet trading week my sex and the flat after closing marginally in red on friday down just under a half percent ending a fourteen straight week of gains the r.t.s. fared better finishing in a black point twenty three percent wrapping up a successful trading week trading volume for 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 that same arlovski chrystia wraps up the week. this week was relatively calm and that's mostly because the majority of the market players xampp a large ones and brokers from europe and the us on christmas holiday the indices are barely changed as we would treat volumes very little but also lowball till she or one of the interesting events of this week was the disclosure of terms from the alleged merger between cali and silver needs which livened up this loss of this company. and that's all the business for now but you can always find more on our on our website that's our last business stay with us.

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covered. if. motion would be soon which brightened a few. songs from phones to the pressure. from the stones on t.v. .

news today volunteers once again fled. and these are the images go for it has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are on the day. back here with r.t. coming to you live from moscow these are the top stories afghanistan's cheap heroin is depriving thousands of locals of a future besides flooding other countries the desperate situation is a reflection of needles for efforts to tackle the problem says russia's top as a drug enforcer. from dismantling historic monuments to comic strip propaganda and i saw the template in georgia gathers pace with russia seemingly it's

a prime target but a growing number of people say the authorities attempts to write the 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 here in r.t. and coming out party talks to actress helen mirren about her role and the last station a film looking at the final days of leo tolstoy the picture reveals an unknown tolstoy but what horizons did open up for the actors themselves spotlight is next.