soon which brightened if you knew me bombs from phones to pressure. these foods don't on t.v. don't comb. deep freeze hundreds of russians in the country's far east remain stranded aboard a group of vessels logged in by an icy trap. the ice breaking restivo issue that has already weighed two ships has now breached the remaining three they remain trapped in the ice in the dock i live. in the united states republican staff and take control of congress worthy now outnumber obama's democrats experts warn the change could make life more difficult for the president. and palestinians in

the west bank start naming streets after their fallen heroes but critics say the scheme is glorifying people with blood on their hands. watching r.t. live from moscow i am here i'm marina joshie welcome to the program a rescue mission is underway in icy waters off russia's far east coast where five vessels have been stuck for almost a week two ships were afraid yesterday but more than four hundred people are still trapped for more on this we know across life sponsor perth it's got the very latest for us so sara what more can you tell us what's happening there now. well we know now that the largest of the ice breakers the admiral marker of has actually reached a three vessels that remain locked in the ice so that's no working to break up the ice around the shirts and it's going to be deciding in the next hour or so which

order they'll be removing the vessels from that area and so that's what's happening right now we know that also a little earlier a third icebreaker was dispatched to join the t. the drew ready for this is really a backup option the admiral crusted is on his way to that area but it would take about three days for it to get there so obviously with the icebreaker already working at the moment it's hoped that that will be able to free the ship reasonably quickly they are being played down by the extreme conditions and there's a further weather warning so they're going to really want to complete this rescue mission as soon as possible. also as we know this is not the first attempt to rescue the ships there so why is it so difficult to to freedom and we understand that the conditions there are really tough why it's taking so long. well we've heard it really is down to these extreme conditions the temperature has been as low as minus seventeen is that it could plunge even lower they've had gale force winds

and incredibly thick ice in that area so the ice breakers themselves have really had quite a struggle to get three to these vessels now we know that the three ships that are still trying to exclude in fact help at the end of last week and the icebreaker is the marker of. the gadget with the help now the smaller of this ice breaker and they got an actually itself ended up getting trapped in the ice in a quite assistance from the larger. girls. at the time that the initial. help that the country's transport ministry actually issued a warning. about these conditions but we saw that despite that a number of other ships did get shot at the beginning of this week so the icebreaker has been working on first of all they managed to free to and of course now working with the three of the most that we've heard from the fishes just how harsh these conditions really are. there's

a vast accumulation of ice in the region which in places is almost eight meters the ice is being formed a river is through the fresh water that's freezing the vessels are in constant motion so as not to let the ice form around the situation worsened by the gill force with. no cycle and bay where these vessels are trying to be quite a dangerous marine area there's very clear water around it but of course the extreme conditions have meant that it's been even worse and of course the queen members aboard those three vessels are going to be extremely anxious to get this rescue operation completed and get the ships free. that tells sarah what's happening to the people who are on board those ships and how are they dealing with the situation. well the crews of being called. they certainly got enough. bullets that is the danger of them running out the

supplies they obviously spent a year aboard the ship in this size but they're in that they're in good spirit their rule completely they went in any danger but of course they've been there for a week now so are they going to have been pretty pleased it's the in the arrival of the macro they're going to be one thing as we know that this operation of the rescue operations be completed as soon as possible absolutely sarah first things very much indeed for bringing us the very latest for you watching r.t. live from moscow on the way a city paved with bin bags find out why do your kids are feeling rubbish as the your home's become a dumping ground for the city's ways and it's just a few minutes. two years of democrat dominance on capitol hill have come to an a and a new u.s. congress has been sworn in and the republicans now hold an overwhelming majority the house of representative sees the biggest split with obama's democrats outnumbered by forty nine seats and they're barely clay onto the senate with

a majority of just three votes the change in power follows the results of ambers midterm elections republicans have been trying to sink several of obama's policies since then including a nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia which was eventually ratified by the senate late last month was was benedict from the libertarian party says the current bipartisan system is leading america into a dad and. if you look at what the worst policies that congress has delivered most of them have been bipartisan for many years the bailouts of the banks the invasions of afghanistan and iraq but the deficit spending even a lot of the health care programs have been supported by both republicans and democrats the united states is spending itself into oblivion we're going broke or doing way too much spending on millett on the military if congress stop doing anything that would be the second best thing that could happen the best thing would

be that they start cutting government i think that republicans will pretend they're trying to cut taxes or cut government and claim that democrats are being a roadblock to it and your only solution is to vote for more republicans democrats have used the same tactics when it comes to various programs if you don't elect more democrats the republicans will stop a so yes they will be playing politics republicans and democrats are both being hypocritical if you really want change in america you've got to look outside the two main parties has west benedict executive director of the libertarian national committee usually famed for its shopping cutting edge fashion and a lot of big business something smelling a bit off in new york and residents are starting to complain about mountains of ways being left on every corner of the big apple are to see a trick in a dive headfirst into the reality of a city sky high in rubbish. you're standing next to

a pile of garbage taller than yourself how does that make you feel it's a pretty impressive while the world marks the new year one thing marking new york are melton's of garbage. striking a huge blow to the city's traditionally glamorous image you can't even cause the street with a baby carriage to hold the people cannot even want to sit discreet. anthony is a mailman his job takes twice the time these days sadly he notes his salary has not that makes my work very very hard because they really box. in one instance however the mounds of garbage prevented a tragedy as one new yorker suicide attempt unsuccessful this weekend when it jumped out of the window did not turn fatal due to an unexpected software into piles one of thousands filling many of the almost six thousand miles of new york city streets the average american is said to produce fifty tons of garbage in

a lifetime new york city has reportedly accumulated as much as fifty thousand tons of garbage in just one week just because we're in a financial recession issue mean that we're in a more recession but it will world recession is exactly what the trash invasion has turned the big apple and while some officials have created themselves a plus for handling the situation new yorkers are outraged very upset about it it's gross it's ridiculous. taxes. as an economic crisis leads to budget cuts that lead to boycotts in the sanitation department that lead to all this garbage out on the street it may be time to ask how soon before the big juicy apple turns rotten and. new york. are you watching r t live from moscow stay with us as we. have for you. twenty. five years after the world's worst nuclear disaster ukraine says it's safe to develop

which are not ones own for growing crops but will anyone actually also. balancing mysticism but with modern technology armstrong thomas and coming up on our to really explore the world of the started shawmut. the west bank city of ramallah is naming its streets as part of a regeneration scheme started two years ago to mark its hundreds anniversary but some of the titles are causing controversy after being named after people involved in planning suicide bombs of bombings rather and supposedly reports it's being seen by some as a sign of growing extremism. in palestinian ramallah they're naming their streets to celebrate the city's one hundredth birthday this is and right for this isn't the norm where they are imaginary casing your way around here with no street signs to help well until two years ago that was the case there were

no numbers for houses and no lives for the sticks but now yasser arafat gets a street as does a neighborhood that used to exist in arab jeff in the one nine hundred thirty s. the neighborhoods long since disappeared and the streets a call for palestinian refugees to return to israel the criteria are simple palestinian heroes places and ideas supported by the people read on this issue here it really is a public or a threat there or a mass if anything the opposite members of both groups are glorified which might surprise those who think palestine is most modern city would shy away from praising her master what's like this main form of faith named after chief a mass bomb maker yahia yash dubbed the engineer for three years he was the most wanted man by israel for his part in suicide bombings that killed ninety israelis

until he himself was eliminated. and this martyr was killed by the israeli internal security service after they tricked a friend of his into giving him a cell phone that was booby trapped fourteen years on his family is as proud as ever and the. i'm very pleased even in drugs in streets after my son is in my heart and i miss him his the humor of those trying. but not all street names are palestinian rachel corrie was an american activist who was killed by an israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in gaza in two thousand and three the decision to name this busy street. in ramallah after her was unanimous rachel was part of the international solidarity movement a group israelis charged aids her mass and other palestinian extremist groups the people in the west bank for the with the way that they have been doing in years. eager to present the poll show her mask growing in popularity in the west

bank as talks between rival palestinian faction fatter and israel did luck commerce is changing the. language of the. stance and as the new street signs go up in ramallah it's becoming more and more clear a mass is also speaking in the language palestinians here understand policy r.t. ramallah. now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world and a u.s. presidential panel has found a serious cost cutting this helped cause the b.p. oil spill one of the worst environmental disasters in history the report concluded bad management lead to failure in safety procedures an explosion at an oil rig in the gulf of mexico killed eleven workers and caused millions of gallons of oil to leak into the ocean until it was kept in july b.p.'s own investigation concluded many factors were to blame including the involvement of several other companies.

police in turkey have arrested a would be hijacker after he was overpowered by passengers on a flight from oslo to his family it's believed the turkish national claim to have a bomb when he tried to force his way into the cockpit the man of the jet return to norway police say the bomb was found to be a fake turkish airlines plane was carrying fifty nine people dead in. north korea is calling for an conditional talks with the south to fears of conflict on the peninsula so has dismissed the offer as insincere and tension is at a high over gangs shelling of a south korean island in a van which killed four people north claims the attack was in response to south korean military exercises in the area. and the united nations peacekeeping chief says he wants up to two thousand additional troops to bolster the u.n. force in ivory coast general hopes the soldiers will be available in

a few weeks troops have been protecting a hotel that is sheltering assad atar a man who's been widely recognized as the winner of the bamber life of walking a remains around the building despite a west african and voice reporting that ivory coast incumbent leader had agreed to lift it. now you might not think of it as fertile ground but ukraine is planning to start developing parts of the contaminated true novel zone for agriculture scientists believe that plants and crops there are immune to the radiation caused by the nuclear disaster twenty five years ago but as are reports huge doubts over safety remain. these berries may look ripe and delicious but they're definitely not part of a healthy diet the bush is inside a thirty kilometer chernobyl exclusion zone in ukraine and radiation levels are off the scale people do not live here anymore but same cannot be said about

flora and fauna some say it is the absence of anthropogenic harm in the church novel exclusion zone which made nature develop here rapidly after the one nine hundred eighty six fallout ensure normal the environment suffered badly one strip of forest was burned by radiation and turned red people left the area but mother nature stepped in now chernobyl is home to many species of wild animals and rare plants scientists from slovakia studying most in the area made an incredible discovery a lot of the plant life is immune to radiation. we still don't understand how it's possible plans to grow. at the very beginning of the earth when life started the. activity on the surface. level up. somehow.

how much problem and the millions of hectares of land were left contaminated a quarter of a century on kiev has decided that this soil no longer poses any threat to humans in march twentieth. will launch a plan to get things growing again. we will establish what parts of the contaminated areas could be used for agricultural needs there is a possibility that cultural products will be there when we have so much unoccupied land why not use it. those well familiar with chernobyl like the idea. of how familiar people works to clean this land of radioactivity now we're being told this is dead land this is not true just look at nature's riches in the exclusions if you were however there are those who worried about what could end up on the dinner table critics fear ukrainian and russian markets could be flooded

with radioactive agricultural products and there are legal hurdles. ukraine has a law regulating any activities in the exclusion zone it says no agricultural product can be drawn on this land and for now experts you know possibility of this law to be changed. the dominant view remains that the nearest safe zones from the blonde are still hundreds of kilometers away in northern ukraine and some parts of belarus the dead zone and is still deemed too dangerous despite some optimists but the fact is radiation can stick around for anything up to twenty four thousand years. see reporting from chernobyl ukraine and from hailing and protection to marriages and good harvest in ancient times shamans were in charge of almost all aspects of life in russia's far east they are still very important to native people but there are only a few left on thomas went to see how they adapt to modern times and keep old

traditions alive. from the ceremonial rhythm of the drama. to ancient rituals and traditions. the belief in the power of the shaman is very much a part of the cuttin way of life to put it all and sisters always had a very powerful shaman around the law to protect to give them blessings and ensured security and safety in all circumstances and every day life at a hand on a journey and. a shaman is someone who acts as an intermediary between the spiritual and earthly worlds relying heavily on nature to get his message across when russian orthodox christianity moved eastward and then later with the soviet union sharman is and was banned those that practice the faith were persecuted now there are only three recognized shaman living in all of us. both i help people

find faith in the fact that their wishes will be fulfilled their family relations in conflicts at work will be fixed when a person has this faith he can do anything i live in a time of crisis and my mission is to help people in this troublesome time every shonen has his own mission. to help certain posts with the engine symbols of the sharman adorning them standing right next to power lines from the modern world there's a contrast between the modern technology and age and mysticism is a problem for the sherman they're full of. real shamans live far away from big cities and small villages because contemporary cities with computers cars and cell phones and the constant russian distract from the true unity with nature and the spirits i myself am from a far northern region she ganske. trying to make the best of it all life is a delicate balancing act for the cuttin people. where an interesting people when

we're in trouble we do three different things at the same time we turn to shame. we pray you know church and we make use of modern medicine a unique way of keeping a tradition that has been part of your code for centuries but even if you don't you may there's some protect what it created the spiral in the middle is a symbol of fire may the warmth of the fire in your name and protect you and may your three spirits be united the spirit of the womb the spirit of bath and the spirits of the earth in your group here sean thomas hearty and brings us up to date here in our. latest from the world of business in just a few moments. well

welcome to our business program i'm surrounded. russia as the leading export of energy resources but also one of the most energy efficient economies in the world but both state and commercial businesses businesses have a lot of projects in the pipeline and a bitter improve the country's competitiveness archie is calling bright has the story. every year russia wastes enough energy to power the french economy but now the kremlin hopes it can turn industry from leaking losses into a green money making machine to get it started the government's approved a three hundred billion dollar energy efficiency program to trim the fat from factories and buildings inherited from soviet times he's played something in fifty one the leaders in terms of inefficiency are industrial giants transport and housing utilities many industrial sectors of the economy are two and a half times less efficient than their european peers the room for improvement is huge. with us it is the biggest oil and gas producer on the planet the people of

russia enjoy cheap energy with prices set by the state but those low domestic costs drain the desire to conserve fuel there is no other remedy tool and energy efficiency apart from letting the consumer speedy video economic price for the energy of their consuming president medvedev aims to slash wastefulness by forty percent over the next decade initiatives range from phasing out incandescent light bulbs to state backing for billionaire may help prokhorov project to build an inexpensive hybrid car in southern russia but there's still a long way to go for the last twenty years we've been reducing energy consumption. very g.d.p. but awfully three to five percent but you know a lot of four other countries moved much much faster down this road and. right now you know our energy inefficiencies are everywhere it's probably buildings. and budget consumers i would prefer gas flaring etc it's tremendous being eco

friendly goes hand in hand with energy efficiency recently russia's natural resources ministry drafted a bill to make factories recycled materials they currently throw away by selling them to biofuel clouds right now russia uses twice as much energy than china uses to produce the same amount of goods and russian companies are struggling to learn how to go in clean could bring in the green colin bray. now let's take a look at the stock markets now in russia the bosses are close to the eleventh of january for the russian new year holiday break the asian markets closed in black today japanese needs a jump by almost one and a half percent as investors snapped up shares of big exporters after the dollar had two week highs against again however markets elsewhere in asia were more subdued ahead of the influential u.s. non-farm payrolls report.

on russia's inflation in two thousand and ten grew eight point seven percent that's according to preliminary data of the federal statistics service the figure fail to meet the government's seven point five percent target and almost equal the previous year's inflation in a bid to curb price growth in two thousand and eleven experts believe every finance rate hike is in the cars. reports. russia central bank account interest rates on four consecutive occasions in two thousand and ten to seven point seven to five per cent to help spur landing after the financial crisis however the easy money if you didn't see. which has risen above targets and currently stands at more than eight per cent central bank has to react in order to keep a lid on inflationary pressures that's one of the major or most important mandates of the central bank so i think it's also very important signal that inflation is

very important for the central bank a signal that is very important to all of the economic agents i think her refinance rate may boost carry trades with investors cashing in on high interest rates in russia compared to the rest of the world but analysts say central banks monetary policy is hard to predict which is helping to make money you have different estimates which makes it a little bit harder to follow the policy makers i think the central bank here. has created kind of a deliberate ambiguity you know it's kind of constructive ambiguity you might even say in their minds at least about policy here and i think they did that in particular and successfully in a way because they didn't want to see large cap large capital short term hot money inflows russian economic growth has been slower than expected in two thousand and ten while inflation has been higher and the ruble hasn't appreciated as much as it

could given the current prices but economists believe the country is well pleased for instance predict g.d.p. growth of five percent in two thousand and eleven significant ruble appreciation and higher capital inflows. of of business. and that's it for this hour you can always find more business stories on our web site that's our team dot com stay with us.