and to supporters have. heard he is one of the million addicts in this country the world's largest producer of opium. as i said my life crystals their own this drug i know it's killing me but i can't stop anti drug measures of diminished output but it 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 vote on 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 activity is often starting among injecting drug use it has as well to do what you security i 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 local city and 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 existed just a few hundred beds to offer. the u.n. funded a judge 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 why do all it 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 that 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. in kabul for r.t. . russia's top anti-drug enforcer says the u.s. led coalition is so far failing to even slightly reduce the heroin output in afghanistan. because i mean 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 filthy provides the most basic living simply struggling for survival and all the talk about the need to create economic incentives for them is simply pointless as they work as slaves for

the landlords and these are the people we need to find and target and what we're proposing nato is to take the land from them with international law and most national legal systems presume that proceeds used for criminal purposes should be confiscated. newspapers in georgia are staging an anti so he had campaign backed by president saakashvili and with the destruction of soviet war memorials many believe in the country that the real goal is to stir up anti russian sentiment. reports. the destruction as savior monuments a law banning savior symbols and now an anticipated documentary and a series of cartoons in local newspapers all part of an anti save it campaign currently being led by the cuban government that both the timing and methods of implementation have led many to question its real. 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 of 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 to pick your favorite general firing it kicks in. with the from this white. part of the anti favor campaign is being accused of being anti russian and of encouraging the public to live by the bigger picture. but many georgians particularly the older generation hold positive memories of saving at times and seeing what is a police officer in the union enjoys harsh comparisons between situation then and

today we are we know. 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 or 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 people . dismantled these monuments they want us to forget our history but we should never forget. the government his name first provoked his stance towards russia. the controversial campaign techniques are perhaps a stab at. this they know the. history must be honest and true to fact not one sided all nations united in soviet union are equally guilty for the problems it

doesn't make sense to china blame it on. but using comic books to facilitate this is appropriate i think the efforts of the government look silly. the strong emphasis on the negative aspects of the savior period might well see the present political agenda not everyone inside georgia is happy with their government's actions. georgia. and you are with are still the feeling of paranoia. the man invents an armageddon a shelter to survive the apocalyptic prophecies of two thousand and twelve but it has more practical uses two plus. take hours to get from the nearest airport to. russia and as you can see the. paradise. we look at why the purpose built gambling zones are failing in the face of illegal games of chance and what russia is betting on to reverse the trend.

us christian conservatives are up in arms this festive season they say the christmas message is being hijacked by commercial interest and the real meaning of the holidays being lost or teased and exhausted he has the story. tis the season to be decided i'm just so enraged by these how 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 issues and the issues are plenty to wars record high unemployment and a budget crisis approaching apparently the real good or well that one atheist group is putting a new spin on the war on christmas if you listen to the media this is the truth we're trying to to take a shot at christmas they don't have any guts if they did so they 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 if you do a real growth 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 what a ball choice quiz about which founding father or politician said it which religious 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 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 the single most inclusive thing that you can do this time of year is wish people a merry christmas we think it's appropriate. i asked 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 we need to rethink how does everybody calm groups. is the good news rethinking and perhaps considering that the real battle is much more serious was the. it's one that goes on

all year round. that's for r t d and a soft. here in russia christmas is still a couple of weeks off but in our weekly show moscow out artie's martin anders explores ways to have a perfect christmas in the russian capital for those who celebrate on december twenty fifth that's coming your way later this hour but here's a quick preview. on the festive moscow out program we'll be taking a look at christmas food and while russians have their main celebrations on the year's eve and january the seventh millions of other people around the world and some here i must go already popping in the champagne to join me lots of andrew's let me take a look at the merry christmas here in the russian capital. russian

authorities are looking for areas a closer to tourist spots to build a new zones for illegal gambling gambling banned first and forced almost two years ago is widely seen as a failure and the original four official gambling spots just haven't taken off. stacks of cash and roofs of one armed bandits federal security service agents breed 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 the show 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 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 last month russian president

medvedev approved a war relocating the only functioning gambling zone closer to tourist destinations we 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 . the village of blagoveshchensk is a perfect transport hub hosting the gambling project will make our resort accessible all year round. these fields have been prepared for a large scale construction by a peninsula with the yellow sended beaches that attract thousands of dorothy's admit however that the news own will be worthless just like they will one unless the illegal casinos disappear wish them or was the almost all the after hours game organizers have been able to avoid serious punishment but that has changed now the region so 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 a lot r.t.d. cross the region. more on all of our stories on stuff our new. i'll website here's just a quick peek at what's online at r t dot com right now. ride into moscow to compare horse power to find out how it went down. and if you want to get married with something a little more sophisticated than eggnog this christmas party has got the perfect recipe. now time for world news in brief on this sunday morning suicide blast in a crowded aided this center in northwest pakistan has left at least forty three

people dead and over one hundred injured a female suicide bomber threw two hand grenades and detonated their explosives as locals waited for food aid the explosion took place in the city of cars in a tribal region bordering afghanistan it comes a day after eleven soldiers were killed by militants in a coordinated assault in a neighboring region. and indian rocket carrying a communications satellite has exploded shortly after launch officials say an error caused it to take off at a steeper angle than intended and break up it is india's second space launch failure this year the nation is the fifth country to enter the commercial satellite launching market and plans to make its first manned flight and twenty sixteen. the unusually winter weather across europe is likely to be met with some forboding by those predicting the end of the world in two thousand and twelve one russian man is

so worried about the ancient predictions he's invented a shelter he believes can guarantee human survival and as you go to a garden i've discovered if armageddon doesn't arrive it's a pretty nice sauna to. 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 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 beaker 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 life 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 upside down without being damaged. of course company can't be destroyed by tremors. all make mistakes this is where the show will be and the air purification systems you can house not to fool people for forty days and cause eighty thousand dollars to be kept has recruited a band of neighbors they've already booked their places in the capsule but i was scared of twenty two out we have to be ready. yeah there's a going to die out we will survive. and of the end of the world doesn't come into years you get in he says his capsules can be used as saunders or industrial fridges and recommends that the government orders several thousand immediately either there are no party moscow region. according to the predictions the end of the world is

two years away so we can come back to two thousand and ten now on the eve of the new year russian president dmitri medvedev held a q. and a session with russia's leading t.v. channels about the year that had just passed before version is available anytime on our website r.t. dot com but in a few minutes right here we'll bring. those . mr president but he question on the new start. henry short

story that goes and one other accidents of that year was a democratic president being a democrat obama is different he's done a good job he has this important document when you start through this in eight why did you have a conversation with him today. in the rift cation. know he's away on holiday it was quite late when we talked after eleven pm our time like any other person he's entitled to rest is on his christmas holiday but i think he can rest with the realisation that his rest is well deserved he did a really good job i agree with you under rather difficult conditions he managed to get this important treaty approved in the senate. like i said our security for the next few years will be based on this treaty and in general i can say that it's easy for me to work with president obama because he can really listen to you and hear you he's not impeded by stereotypes and what's probably the most important thing. for a politician he keeps his promises he's kept his promises as regards to the new start

as regards the w t o and as regards the ratification of a very important treaty on nuclear cooperation and as regards various international issues so i hope he gets a good rest he did a good job and i told him so yesterday i said barack have some rational level with . people rarely remember what it past event smelled sounded like the year two thousand and ten so one even did i will remember i think it was even more vivid for year how did you find out about the crash of the polish air force one near smolensk and how did you react you'll support or worth arguing for share your story with my. hand. tool available it was a difficult day i was in some petersburg at the time it was a saturday and i was planning to have a break then my aide told me about what happened or i was shocked it always comes as a shock taking in news of this kind you feel shocked and sorry for the people who were

killed and this time to add that it was the entire polish political elite it happened at that spot to think it seemed mystical and hard to believe it turned out to be true nonetheless our relations with poland have gone a long way since then i mean well things were very complicated i think that our relationship is less complex now i paid an official visit to poland we talked with the investigation still has to be concluded of course it can't be politicized to serve as a reason to stop blaming each other we have to listen to all parties involved and accept the conclusions made by international agencies then there is the internal investigation of course them you can use the whole thing at a. how do you feel about polish prime minister donald tusk call in the interest aviation committee report and acceptable. but i would rather think that his evaluation was emotional and the result of occurrences in poland's internal politics of poland has shattered that communal mentality is shattered which is

understandable because it was a real tragedy but it can't affect our relations and it can't lead to the results of the intergovernmental committee and the investigation into the incident being politicized. why did the government in spite of a tradition that has been going since soviet times admit that spies court were working for russia the incident made it clear to me that russia has annoyed spine it working for a few switches. anyone working for our special services is first and foremost a russian citizen they're not cannon fodder or heroes that the state is willing to sacrifice if the soviet union or perhaps even russia has not talked about them before then it was a mistake on the government's policy our main goal in that situation was to get our people here out we did that because as i said they were russian citizens i recently met with intelligence officers and i told them that we will continue doing the same

thing in the future if anyone from the intelligence service be of the legal service or not or in a difficult position these people defend our interests as for the service it can be different legal or illegal if a country claims that it doesn't have an illegal intelligence service it's usually a lie either that or the country in question is a very small sum on the much can push us the out of them of the most tragic events this year was the massacre of civilians in a village near the investigation into which highlighted the deep corruption between the police the authorities and criminals there were similar a cure in says elsewhere how can this be tackled mr medvedev on their. story of the problem but it's an important subject and i'm glad you brought it up there is crime yes and there is corruption but i believe we've cut off the people who were obviously criminals the situation is different to the level of regional and municipal authorities there are people who still live by their own code that's why we need purges not the same purges as those which took place in the one nine

hundred thirty s. but we need to cut off those people from power some of them are members of the ruling party but that does not mean the ruling party or any other party should turn a blind eye to it on the contrary we need to bring them out into the light expel them from the party to strengthen the party of oratory she's. with you once mentioned it all political system is showing signs of stigma how should we deal with this. but it wasn't just with us parties must feel responsibility for. the thought is they've received a major political party united russia should not just rain but also show intelligence tact and power it should appoint the right people pushing back the corrupt ones and those not willing to work at all or punish them for the party should also participate in the discussion of all the issue it's the fact that they represent opposition does not mean that they're isolated from society's life they should be speaking openly about all the issues we have. but all the press each of

us. i wanted to ask you how you felt about japan's reaction tv's it to the curial islands. well what about me sure nothing has changed for me the japanese seem tense . take hold back the investor. is going. well i'm sincerely sorry that i was the reason for a break in his political career that was not what we aim for i'm not sure now what he will do but let me remind you that all of the south could allow that is the territory of the russian federation the president is allowed to visit them you would get why has no president gone there before you well it's a remote place that's true but it's our land nonetheless and we have to develop the carolinas to ensure that the people there live well i promise that to the locals i told them that and then sent deputy prime minister chevelle off to work that he's still working and we will send other officials to the corals of this doesn't mean we're not ready to cooperate with japan we'd welcome any initiatives on joint

economic projects taking into account the historical events that took place there you can manage we are ready to work with them but this doesn't mean that we will give up the corals as our territory our partners have to understand that. are we to meet new birth or the global media have made we can leaks the main brand of the year there's no doubt about ted how do you feel about it. and. some of what's been revealed is interesting some things were quite surprising you know what are you afraid of wiki leaks why would i be afraid. the department of state might be afraid of the not me but they might try to but year if i was scared of what people might write about me i would never go onto the internet or watch television or some other person who has this kind of responsibility has to understand that people don't praise the authorities too often and probably for a good reason for it is have to work efficiently with you but no i'm not afraid of what people might write about me as for the consequences of the publication might have an effect on other countries relations but not on our relationship with the us

we all understand the general attitude of the media and the public we get that information from television and newspapers open sources so we saw nothing new this reminds me of the story that happened to a soviet diplomat he served as ambassador in a european country and had been granted an audience with the queen and after the audience he sent a cable back home saying the queen asked me about dissidents i had to bring it down a peg that's what happens with diplomats they show each other how tough they are putting labels on everybody every profession has its own rules our diplomats write to each other to everyone's entitle to their minute of fame including ambassadors and diplomats. who are very involved. thank you for these in-depth conversation we sure have been year on behalf of our audience it would be naive to see we hope the next year will be better but we just wish you a happy new year you think number of years roll. thank you very much i would

like to say that i wish you a happy new year too but i promise this i will do it again you know when that will hit you. you have to say that the steel he showed us some is an eighth grader. all right thank you thank you. the club seventeen has been to the region where industries are rapidly developing. now wattie goes to the homeland of those with strength of mind and body. to the land developed by cossacks in ancient times and which became a premier destination for nineteenth century political exiles. this is the on screen russia plan sounds on oxy.

it's. in the big gold. teeth to thirty. people. nato forces are being criticized for failing.

the country's. christmas. in this week's festive show takes a look at what christmas treats you can buy in the russian capital.