six months later he dropped out and does what he can to support his habit. but 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 drug measures of diminished output but it only costs two dollars providing an escape for addicts reaching for refugees returning from iran and 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 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 users 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 local city 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 in the handful of rehabilitation clinics that exist just a few hundred beds to offer. the u.n. funded the job center is 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. you know more toward the mother relapse is

a huge problem there's not much we can offer these people once they leave here. it's 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 and afghanistan. because you know what should people see oh 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 learn from them with international law and most national legal systems presume that prophecy used for criminal purposes should be confiscated. newspapers in georgia are staging an anti soviet campaign backed by president saakashvili and with the destruction of soviet war memorials many believe in and many in the country believe that the real goal is to stir up anti russian sentiment artie's ports. the destruction is savior and monuments a law banning savior symbols and now an anti savior 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 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 of setia 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. this card to a local newspaper the pick your favorite general bearing is kicked in. with the promise of wine and that is part of the anti favorite campaign is being accused of being anti russian and of encouraging the public to live by the bigger picture. than many georgians particularly the older generation hold positive memories a savior at times and widget blood seeing worked as

a police officer in the save the union and jules harsh comparisons between the situation then and today. and order was much better in the song retirement today in the soviet union we have professional unions protecting our rights to do we have nobody to take care much we're being poisoned with the ideology of the current authorities. for people like angrily the destruction of monuments dedicated to saviors soldiers many of whom were themselves georgian is particularly inflammatory they've had to sit by and watch as their memories of the past have reduced to rubble. why do you think people. dismantle these monuments if you want us to forget our history but we should never forget. the georgian government his name for his provoked his stance towards russia but the controversial campaign techniques are perhaps a step too far as they know 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 on russia but using comic books to facilitate this is appropriate i think the efforts of the government look silly. whilst a strong emphasis on the negative aspects of the savior period might well suit the present political agenda not everyone inside georgia is happy with their government's actions sarah ferguson georgia you are with are still to come a feeling of paranoia. a russian man invents and armageddon shelter to survive your apocalyptic prophecies of twenty twelve but it has some more practical uses to what . takes several hours to get from the nearest airport to the casino in southern russia and as you can see this doesn't work with paradise we look at why a purpose built gambling zones are failing in the face of the 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 i teased it was ask you has the story. tis the season to be divided i am just so enraged by these all these atheist displays in trying to push jesus to the back seat on christmas day but people like had a humanist royce back 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 war while the 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 the 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 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 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 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 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 acknowledge 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. this kind of reaction we need to rethink does everybody congress. is the governor's rethinking and perhaps considering that the real battle is much more serious was the. it's one that goes on all year round.

for r t. of course in new rochelle orthodox christmas is still a couple weeks off but in our weekly show must go out parties martin andrews explores ways to have a perfect festive season right here in the russian capital that's coming your way next hour but here is a quick preview on this week's press must go out the president will be taking a look at christmas food and while the russians have the main celebrations on new year's eve thousands january the seventh millions of other people around the world and some here i must go already popping open the champagne to join me lots of them breeze let me take a look at a merry christmas here in the russian capital. for what russian authorities are looking for areas closer to tourist spots to build new

zones for illegal gambling the gaming ban first enforced almost two years ago is that widely seen as a failure and the original four official gambling sponsor 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 the casino in southern russia and as you can see the zone still doesn't spare 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 their zones 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 huston 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 there will be less 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 though will be the right bet for russia there is a lot ski r t cross in the region. more on all of our stories on our new. style website here's just a quick peek at what's online right now. we find out how it all went down. and if you want to get married with something a little more sophisticated. for you. now look at world news in brief this sunday morning. a suicide blast in the crowded

u.n. aid distribution center in northwest pakistan has left at least forty three people dead and over one hundred injured a female suicide bomber from two handed the maids and detonated their explosives as locals waited for the explosion that took place in the city of car 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 communication 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 two thousand and sixteen. the unusually wintery weather across europe is likely to be met with some foreboding 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 our cheesy go to have discovered if armageddon doesn't arrive it's a pretty nice sauna as well. ancient mayan calendar predicts that on twenty first of december twenty twelve the world will and. the earth will suffer cataclysmic events floods other options and earthquakes that will wipe out almost everyone but some are getting ready to survive the apocalypse i fear kilometers outside of moscow on an abandoned battery farm and invention has been made which will save humanity when the end of the world doesn't 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 live capsule one year ago now

he's built it he says people are taking him seriously yeah we capsules hermetic it's got four layers of insulation he can float roll down here and learn upside down without being damaged. of course it can't be destroyed by tremors or loss of all magnetic storms this is where the shower will be and the air purification systems you can house up to four people for forty days and cause eighty thousand dollars will be kept has recruited a band of neighbors who've already booked their places in the capsule but i would say i'm scared of twenty two hours we have to be ready. yeah there's a going to die we will survive kind 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 order several thousand immediately either an or party moscow region. but back to two thousand and ten in the run up to new year

celebrations president dmitri medvedev held a q. and a session with russia's leading t.v. channels about the main events of the year the full version is available anytime on our website r.t. dot com but in a few minutes right here we'll bring you some of the. as. mr president question on the new start i think one phrase in our henry

short story that goes and one other accidents of that year was a democratic president so being a democrat obama is different has done a good job he has pushed this important document when you start through this in eight why did you have a conversation with him so late yesterday was he still great in the rift cation if he cuts from. no 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 problem. 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 rationality there 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 worth arguing for sure your store with my. hand. to roll in 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 because it happened at that spot to see 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 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 of them we can use the whole thing at a. how do you feel about polish prime minister donald tusk call in the interest aviation kmita report and acceptable. i would rather think that his evaluation was emotional and the result of occurrences in poland's internal

politics of poland is shattered the 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 an illegal spying networking or 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 who are out and 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 of 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 very small as some on the market can push 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 and says elsewhere how can this be tackled mr medvedev on there. is a 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 are 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 the 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 parties of oratory she. would cook for you once mentioned it all political system is showing signs of stick nation how should we deal with this while. but it wasn't just with us parties must feel responsibility for the. 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 the other party should also participate in the discussion of all the issue the fact that they represent opposition does not mean that they're isolated from society's life or

they should be speaking openly about all the issues we have to identify what are the. us. i wanted to ask you how you felt about japan's reaction tv's it to the curial islands. well what about me 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 them is the territory of the russian federation the president is allowed to visit them you will 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 kaleido is 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 but 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 curdles it's our territory our partners have to understand that are not our way to meet new press 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 you're 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 you know 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 good reason the authorities 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 relations with the us we don't understand the general attitude of the media or the public we get that information from television and newspapers you open sources so we saw nothing new and 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 or 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 minutes of fame including ambassadors and diplomats. who are very well. thank you for this in-depth conversation we share a happy new 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. right thank you you thank. it's the secret incursion into the country. the invasion. of. the language is really. the best deal copied could be. are still unaware of what's going on in their mind still asking.

you the latest in science. coverage. with us. being afghanistan with a million people. international forces aren't doing enough to address the problem. critical of the soviet union sees many they're accusing the government of trying to provoke. christmas christian conservatives say the festive season is under attack and its real meaning is being

washed. up next travels to alaska. that the american state once belonged to russia right up to the present day that's just ahead. once it was a part of russian territory there are still reminders to this day children wearing russian national costumes people having russian names and many orthodox churches are standing here but more than one hundred forty years ago it became the u.s. territory though some americans still don't know about. the still ask have no idea about. like nothing i don't know anything about that alaska it's cold. it was cold a box of ice a polar bear garden and one russia but in the language of the indigenous peoples the word alaska means the great land.