with the palm of your. brush and the u.k. team up as oil giants ross nafta and b.p. swap stocks in a multibillion dollar deal. that teaming up to explore the untapped natural reserves of the arctic sea beds are made in london in just a moment. federal employees at the heart of the u.s. capital live the high life new figures show their take home double the money of your colleagues in the private sector struggling to make ends meet across the crisis great country. and schools in indian run kashmir choose education over separatism in defiance of violent warnings to cancel classes.

you're watching r t coming to live from moscow marina joshie welcome to the program and two of the largest oil companies in the world russia's ross nafta and b.p. are joining forces and they have sealed a stock swap and agreed to extract the untapped riches of the arctic sea bed together we now cross live to laura amateur joining us from london and has more details laura good afternoon so what details can you give us about this agreement and how big is it and what exactly is a state. well this is a huge deal marina and it's really broken some quite significant ground in fact the two partners after calling it a groundbreaking strategic global alliance and it is true that it's the first major equity linked partnership between russian which is a national oil company and an international oil company of course and at the end of this deal when it's all sort of signed and sealed which it already is but when the when the when the deal's gone through and all the shares have been swapped and bought it will end up with a five percent share of b.p.

and that's worth in the region of eight billion dollars by the market close on friday and b.p. will eleven percent of gross net now obviously in any deal of this magnitude between two companies that is so important to their respective countries it's important to have government support and prime minister putin came out and said that he was fully behind this deal let's hear what he had to say. i would like to let you know that the government of the russian federation supports this joint operation this is a project called become global and have a significant influence on the world's oil and gas industry russians arctic reserves are estimated to be five billion tons of oil and ten trillion cubic meters of gas such a project may require tens of billions of dollars of investment and state of the art technology and we are fully aware of the risks involved which is. fully aware of the risks promise to peace and said there are of course there is a lot of state

a lot at stake in this deal there's there's obviously a lot of unproven reserves at the moment underneath the arctic sea and this is an area these three fill fields that were snapped already owns the license to develop cover an area of one hundred twenty five square kilometers so yes one hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers sorry so an awful lot of stake and a huge area that they're looking to exploit well laura why has russia chosen to ally with b.p. on such a grand venture and may the company the number one choice. it is a question that everybody was asking particularly in the wake of the huge oil spill disaster in the gulf of mexico last year of course b.p. presided over that and was blamed for it and it's. only hayward was the full guy for that and had to resign in the wake of it but b.p. has been working in russia for twenty years obviously we still have the big tie up between the russian oil company t n k and b which the current of the people dudley was in charge of so

a huge amount of experience that rosneft and russian general said last night that they have a strong belief in in the competency of b.p. despite that oil spill in the mexican gulf i spoke to deputy prime minister of section about exactly that let's hear what he had to say about why they. well as a book. is working on a new strategy aimed at transforming the company into an international energy holder deal with b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal of experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried out with the greatest level of measures aimed at protecting the environment we've been working with b.p. for many years they're competent and have strong experience of russian companies.

so a strong relationship with between us nafta and b.p. as he gets to chin said there and of course it can't be avoided that this is a huge area with potentially huge amounts of natural resources underneath the seabed there an area that's not particularly easy to exploit so rosneft was always going to need some sort of expertise and and and investment from outside as any national oil company would under those circumstances. absolutely laura but despite the gulf of mexico all disaster russian officials seem confident in b.p.'s ability is but how is b.p. prepared to guarantee the safety of its operations in russian waters. will be very contrite about the oil spill in the in the gulf of mexico it's taking full responsibility for its and it obviously gets away from everybody is asking about about how they're going to make up for what happens in the gulf of mexico and try to move forward. to see b.p.

says that they've learned to not invite everyone is going around saying that they've learned so low it's going to they're going to to put. into into this development in the in the. and see if they can move forward from that and they're very aware of what stage. prime minister again said last night he said that an oil company like b.p. pulls on to the remakes of once bitten twice shy now that they've had this kind of huge ecological disaster they'll be looking out for it happening again and making absolutely sure that nothing goes wrong let's hear what b.p. c.e.o. bob dudley said about that. we've been working with ross now for twelve years now and we've been working on the ark to four russians two thousand and five with ross stuff working with charcoal and i know our capabilities are exploration capabilities and i think to be honest we learned a lot about what happened in the gulf of mexico shaken the company to the core

we're going to renewed focus on safety and risk management and the technology that's new for the environmental care what we do this do has been sealed but it's worth noting that obviously no ground has been very can yet we think that there are these huge reserves under the arctic seabed and there's no reason to think otherwise but these reserves still all unproven and bill dudley was talking about it's hard for this project to around fifty year is so it's going to be quite a long time before we see any oil coming out of the ground in the arctic. or lower things for much indeed for bringing us the details on this deal or am reporting from london. now experts are calling the deal a huge boost for both companies and countries international trade consultant philip billion says b.p. has plenty riding on russian potential. b.p. has invested so much in russia so they cannot step away. and russia still needs the expertise of western oil companies and its interest and it's interesting because

you know they have to sell a lot of. the oil spill in the gulf of mexico to put money aside for the recovery for well they are saving their money for russia other than so in this ng and they are investing more so it means that b.p. is there for the long term the potential of russia is so huge if it's not them it's going to be somebody else so it's really a question of who gets in first and they were world position and the put aside their difficulties from the inside to move forward. and you can get more on this story in our business bulletin a little later in the program and government workers in washington are taking hold on average double the wages of the or private sector colleagues according to the newly revised u.s. census meaning a very people in charge of getting the nation out of its financial hole are living the high life are used to look so whether they're really working twice as hard. across the united states unemployment lines and lines at food pantries and homeless

shelters has marked what's been called one of the worst recessions in u.s. history but there is one special place that remains untouched welcome to washington d.c. the city full of power players pundits and politicians outpace nearly every other city in the country when it came to job growth this past year one thing is sure about this recession is that the public sector employees have been relatively sheltered compared to the private sector so just how well are federal employees doing according to the latest census numbers the average federal employee made a whopping one hundred twenty three thousand dollars last year in compensation and benefits a private sector employee cashed in that almost half that sixty one thousand dollars public employees i mean is. are a powerful you know voter base for pro-government vision so of course they're they're very unlikely to go after them wait

a second wasn't on wall street that you saw greedy fat cats sucking away america's cash at the expense of everyone else remember what president obama said about those guys i did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of their fat cat bankers on wall street while politicians in the media seemed obsessive lee focused on the lavish payouts on wall street who knew that at the peak of the recession last year federal workers in washington got an average raise of four percent more than double the national average they have more vacation they have job security lots of things that the private sector doesn't have in the first year and a half of the recession private sector jobs shrank by almost seven percent however here in washington federal civilian employment grew by almost ten per cent the divide between washington and the rest of america is even more evident if you take a ride to the sprawling suburbs just outside the city home to d.c.'s influential

lobbyists and lawyers with the potomac fairfax virginia if there is one man who knows the montra location location location it's eric stewart one of d.c.'s luxury realtors seven and a half million dollars over ten thousand square feet it's in one of the best locations of all the potomac feeds a great school district very desirable for the average american consumer stuart isn't worried about sales we're sucking jobs into the washington d.c. area which is causing prices to actually have stability and it's not just stylish digs that d.c.'s fat cats can afford. this upscale restaurant in georgetown the reservation list for a weekday dinner is fall connelly's the right side of the same table mrs clinton you know who is now secretary of state came many times just a lot. people come from the hero and big big law firms while one in seven americans rely on food stamps at me shall be shared citron now an average couple isn't shy to

shell out what most couples make in a month on a meal or the types of attributes of the six hundred dollar range or whatever it may be and some nights we do as many as forty fifty. people over at a time when most are struggling to survive it seems like the lucky in washington are living it up preassure there are t. washington d.c. i will later this hour we'll show you how want to vent and russian is rewriting the rules of winter travel. and this pond skater can spice up the cold season for you with speeds of up to one hundred fifty kilometers per hour through land i snow and even mud. well before that a russian journalist at a white house briefing has caused something of a media stir with a question some half compared to the cold war rhetoric of old after offering his condolences over last week's arizona shooting rampage andris it up asked if the

spree was an inevitable byproduct of american style freedom press secretary robert gibbs responded firmly that the actions of the gunmen it were totally un-american saying the nation's values never allow for violence to the gunmen as in custody after opening fire at a political rally and a two song grocery store last saturday. six people were killed and thirteen more injured including representative gabrielle giffords. tof told r.t. he thinks the u.s. is oversensitive one foreigner is daring to question its domestic policies. after the briefing i was approached by a number of people and they talked to me very professional very calmly i would say in some instances even sympathetically they definitely knew where i was coming from and i was coming from the simple desire for that i made it comes to have a discussion of this that is complete sense of and that would help prevent such incidents in the future what i was surprised later was to find in the blogs and by

could respond to this from the white house press corps that many of them treated this as a resurgence of the cold war i think this is the rhetoric that was definitely misplaced it looks like there is a double standard here where an american journalist in moscow was asking about internal politics of russia is a hero and the defender of human rights and democracy and if russian journalist in washington d.c. shows up on a sensitive subject of internal politics here then he's somehow and then you have the american people. and russia has not taken up an invitation to tour ryans nuclear facilities in falls the insistence of russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov that such visits should be substitutes for official u.n. inspections seven international envoys are currently looking around two nuclear sites other key powers china also refused the offer ironic stana to invite

a number of nations but not the u.s. western powers same was an attempt to divide out there is international concern over iran's nuclear ambitions and ryan says its program is peaceful and the offer was merely a goodwill gesture but actually birds believe any such attempts are doomed to failure. they do so from ever there has been a start in negotiations or talks or whatever and didn't have a verdict out certainly there may be some people who thought that they could create the fish are already if but. they never managed to really break up. five plus one formula. the behavior of russia and china just shows once again that it doesn't work i think it's half expected such and such a reaction however the iranians wanted to show two things to their own domestic public that this we are ready to negotiate you have to see it with a second step the iranians did it again to which their own public namely to boost.

the blast about their own new newly achieved technological progress which is not true but again it sends a message to do also of course inside iran who are highly critical of any engagement with the international community that both things iran can to solve comfort them and it wants to negotiate are important. now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world and tunisia's president ben ali has fled to saudi arabia after weeks of unrest and violence the country's prime minister has taken over as interim leader for the end of president ben ali is twenty three year rule marks the first time an arab leader has been deposed by popular protest demonstrators have been calling for more political freedom and better economic conditions clashes with police left at least twenty dad with human rights groups claiming that the number may be as high as sixty. fresh rains are hampering ongoing rescue efforts in southeastern brazil following

the worst floods ever seen in the country at least five hundred people have died in the natural disaster and thousands have been left homeless mountain villages have been swallowed up by landslides and officials say the death toll is likely to rise . sorties in india say over a hundred pilgrims have been crushed to death during a stampede at a religious festival in southern state of carroll scores more were injured and the worshipers were in their way back from visiting a hindu shrine when the accident happened reports say the stampede was triggered by a car driving into the crowd sparking panic. tanian a minister of kashmir now where schools have decided to do without the traditional four months of winter break that's in defiance of separatist demands they close in support of calls for independence pupils will instead make up the academic days they lost over the last year due to massive protests against indian rule our

current saying marijuana the young victims of the latest separatist attack in the area. in srinagar this is all that it means for the school bus it was good walking forcing a general strike where separatists in the capital of in unit minister meet luckily the only child on the bus six year old. was rescued by first they poured petrol under the bus then they smashed the windows the bus driver picked me up and took me out of the bus then those people so far that this attack was meant as a warning to the schools which would mean defeat would strike school just won independence after news spread of the bus attack many schools shut down for the day but not on the issue of school i wanted to show. those miscreants maybe ever feel if you. had to live

difficult to survive separatist leaders have condemned the attack which is at the center of a public backlash separatists independence focus we need which has been administered by india since british rule in india with most parents ignoring this rankles any separatists are we considering that it should not be counterproductive i mean we are giving a strike call because we believe that we do present a part of president people in it and i think if people are giving you a response that you need to think something else you need to have an alternate means other four hundred dollars than just strikes you need to come out with something else that's where we need to sit together and farm out a threat of during the widespread violence of children what i need to attend school for four months and last. year i know you are just if you look at it was no wonder then that with the violence easing you know parents are adamant that you didn't school with militants like it or not we should be proud of one thing that

the people in kashmir. c.d.'s. about educating the get europe and especially the girl children the girl child. has four children all of the affected by the shutdown of fifteen or spends most of her time of the class in extra tuition trying to cover her civil suit. polities meanwhile have decided to keep school during the harsh media so that students can recover the last. one is happy with this decision attrition infrastructure and government is so poor and it's all so pathetic that schools that they were don't have windows and doors how can you help you know how can you hit them how can you want them it's going to be freezing cold and it's not i mean it's v o to have a window of days it's not i mean they wanted as the internet had but then the

suffering really had nothing to do with the as i leave you going doesn't give it. the go next the swedish use clearly affecting people going about their lives with these children now being caught up in the political tussle this is called. whether or not the academic future is going to be impacted life entirely in the hands of the right and saying r.t. . and as the season for getting your skis and skates out but if you're looking for a faster way to get around you might want to check out the winter have a craft invented by russian aviation engineers and glides over the snow at speeds of over one hundred kilometers per hour i just want to try it out. rush's snide remarks in the winter oh impossible slash in the screen can make life hard for many but on this one can go just about everywhere this. was. was was

was. was was was. was. was. was. the russian pounds kate to can travel at speeds of up to one hundred fifty kilometers per hour making it ideal as a snappy runaround or a had turning hobby emotion courts think that if you decide marion man bought one his house is on one side of the linda river his body out on the other he said i'm so lazy to travel over with cares it's so easy a part of the official woman called me and asked whether we can add a trailer with two beds and a hatch inside the cockpit for fishing on the ice. garry's was designed in the town of the cough ski him to russia's annual international asho and by former avocation engineers not surprising than it has a lot in common with its weened brothers or some of. its patented features

a great handling and improve safety is going to very strong rollcage even if you capsize are you going to get is lots of adrenalin we're thinking about installing an airbag another bit of know how is the propellant that's mounted up front or if it's covered so there's no chance of a scarf getting into it and dragging its owner into the blades besides it's warm and dry in there. the rock currently only four gary says in the world but soon its creators say it could become mass common as scooters and bicycles. there are plans to start mass production next year now we're looking for sponsors and facilities as for those who want one they're queuing already so there's no problems with demand just notice for. today it may only be two seats floating in a question of add but if you floated up great idea past the engine years they're more than happy to listen that is of course if his stump up the twenty thousand

bucks price tag if the carries floats your boat. or if an ocean r t moscow region. well later in the program martin anders takes us back to the u.s.s.r. in his weekly tour around the russian capital but before that we'll take a look what's happening in business with your ear. hello and a very warm welcome to the business update b.p. and drill snap have agreed to join to develop a number of projects on russia's arctic shelf the fields potential capacity is around three point five percent of the world's proven oil reserves and roughly five percent of the world's gas reserves well majors have also included to swap shares p.p. will provide five percent of its shares worth around eight billion dollars in exchange for nine and a half percent overall snipped all correspondent takes up the story. this is truly a massive project according to the russian prime minister vladimir putin me affect

the entire global energy industry russia's oil company and britain's energy giant british petroleum have reached several agreements in joint projects in developing offshore oil and gas deposits in russia and in third countries at this point we don't exactly know which third countries that we're talking about now we do know that russia's arctic shelf was also mentioned this is one of the last great unexplored hydrocarbon basins on the planet and so we know it's highly prospective it's large in size we need to do the seismic work and interpret it and then begin drilling wells and so what we're talking about is the beginning of a fifty year project that could be producing hydrocarbons in five to ten years they're talking about deposits of up to five billion tons of oil and up to ten trillion cubic meters of gas these or quite impressive figures and according to the

russian prime minister the do still need to be checked but he did seem confident that they reflect the reality both. b.p. have agreed that such an ambitious project will need big investment and new technology and for that we've agreed to create a new scientific centers in st petersburg any movement which will monitor this project on all of its stages but peace on the of the commuters of the deal will help to acquire expertise of all shells. cations in the arctic region british petroleum does have this expertise and we're sure this project is strategically important for its last year's environmental catastrophe involving b.p. in the gulf of mexico was also discussed and the company's chief executive robert dudley has said that b.p. has taken its lessons from that disaster and it will. much more attention when it comes to environmental safety management especially when it comes to the arctic

shelf it's a unique environment b.p. has been working with the russian companies for two decades now and both sides have agreed to that this has been a fruitful relationship and we've said that this latest ambitious project will be no exception ruston after needs for in technical expertise to excess oil and gas deposits in hard to reach offshore areas i don't think orcon from zero sleep says b.p. will be able to provide that know how while sharing in the resource bonanza the importance is. rosneft gaining access to shelf fields have not been developed so far and probably can but the world without major international partner with years of experience offshore rush's show waters probably have plenty of potential to talk about billions of tons of all

equivalent potentially but so far from the sea development limited to a few areas and. sold them led by a russian company. and a quick look at the russian markets here in russia the stocks saw a slight correction on friday but over the week and my six gained three point four percent on the r.t.s. around five percent making russia the best performing emerging market for three year to date. that's all we have time for now more business news in less than fifteen minutes.

children now see about eight thousand by the end of elementary school five hundred thousand violent acts by the age of eighteen from movies television shows to video games to children. twenty four hour news channels is national team every day formulate a staples industrials in. those while those who say if this think about it there's a good artistic and journalistic future but most of the violence you have to see is what i call have been. god came down from heaven and stopped. there amen a mormon and a pretty one it. makes the pill easier to swallow.