looters appear to be. a powerful partnership or a dryer. swap stocks worth billions of dollars as they team up to explore the on top richest of the russian arctic continental shelf. as many americans lose their jobs in the country's continuing economic crisis we see how some working for the government are doing just fine in the recession. and to find out why not just pupils in india and abroad in kashmir are unhappy at being forced to give up their traditional winter break to make up for lost time with separatist violence shut their schools in the summer.

you're watching r t six in the morning here in moscow it's good to have you with us now two of the world's oil giants russia's ross nafta and b.p. are joining forces to explore the energy treasures hidden under the arctic all the companies have sealed a multi-billion dollar share swap and are now planning to exploit the vast riches of reserves believed to lie in russia's arctic continental shelf. reports from london where this story deal was signed. this is a deal they've been discussing for months after b.p. all calling this a groundbreaking strategic global alliance and it's the first major equity linked partnership between a national oil company rosneft and an international oil company like b.p. and what's happened is that they've done a share swap ross nast has got five percent of b.p. in exchange for nine and a half percent. it's very important that the governments are on the side as well

and in fact a meeting was held with prime minister putin before this deal was signed let's hear what he had to say about the support he's going to give this particular deal. so i would like to let you know that the government of the russian federation supports this joint operation this is a project that could become global and have a significant influence on the world's oil and gas industry. to reserves are estimated to be five billion tons of oil and ten trillion cubic meters of. 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 they've agreed to together to develop and explore three separate areas on the russian arctic self and that covers an area of one hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers b.p. has been working in russia for twenty years it was really the natural choice and there's a strong belief in russia in the competency of b.p. to carry out a project like this in spite of the disaster that we saw in the gulf of mexico last

year and i spoke to. him who's the chairman of ross nafta and one of russia's deputy prime ministers here's what he had to say about why they chose b.p. for this. is working on a new strategy for india transforming the company into an international energy holding model our deal with b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal. 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 are competent and have strong experience of russian companies so there is a strong relationship already in place between b.p. and rosneft before this deals even been signed and of course this is a large area this hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers is going to

benefit both sides and the extra expertise technology and cash of course will be needed to be to be brought in so that's where b.p. comes in the piece incredibly contrite now about the gulf of mexico oil spill the new c.e.o. bob dudley was brought into specifically to rehabilitate the reputation of the company if you like following that disaster and he's certainly going a long way towards doing that he talks a lot about it talks about how much they've learned and the chairman of ross sniffed actually said to me expression which basically translates as once bitten twice shy he thinks that specifically because b.p. suffered this disaster and was blamed for it particularly by the americans they will think twice about what they're doing next time so a company like that will have been versed in what to do when an environmental disaster like this happens so they're not they're not green in any way bob dudley again talks about how contrite they were and what they're going to do another

disaster doesn't happen let's hear what he had to say has been working with ross now for twelve years now and we've been working on the arc to for us since two thousand and five with ross stuff working with cycling you know our capabilities our 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 risk management and the technology that's new for. environmental care what we do this is a project that they're looking at looking at over a term of about fifty is so these reserves are still unproven in the oil and gas reserves in the arctic states one of the first things that they'll be doing doing is looking to see just how much oil and gas is down there and we it's not clear when we're going to see them actually drilling a hole in the ground and bringing out so well and gas so we just have to wait and see. how the deal boosts already longstanding ties between b.p. and russia's energy industry and then ours from the business new europe magazine

says that while there could be some troubles ahead for the joint venture the deal nonetheless is equally beneficial to both partners. i think it's in everybody's interests and both sides are very happy to to do this deal on the one side. needs help they're not very good at deepwater exploration and b.p. has exposed seas and on the other side b.p. is already the most important source of a quarter of b.p.'s total reserves. and securing oil supplies going forward is key for the company the world is changing in the in the past the big oil companies to b.p. the others have been taking the lead but going forward increasingly it's national companies going to states that are increasingly claiming control over the resources of their countries and so the international companies are having to change their game i mean it's no longer that they would go into a poor country and take and take the profits now they have to share with

governments and of course that's a very tricky relationship to manage having said that b.p. has been working pretty much since the beginning i mean this is their joint venture and they become experts in making these managing these relationships although they could be problems they probably will be arguments nevertheless both sides are committed to making it work. and still ahead for you this hour on r t the need for speed russian style. this superpower over able of speedy travel whatever the weather. now as america tries to find its way out of the economic crisis one part of the workforce has stayed protected from financial hardship those employed by the government in washington d.c. some live in multimillion dollar mansions and dine at exclusive gourmet restaurants while their private sector colleagues are losing their jobs in unprecedented

numbers artie's pure sugar takes a closer look at the lifestyle of the government fact that. 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 at almost half that sixty one thousand dollars public employees i mean is are

a powerful you know voter base for pro-government vission so of course they're they're very unlikely to go after them wait a second it 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 percent the

divide between washington and the rest of america is even more evident if you take a ride to the. following 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 dollar homes over ten thousand square feet it's in one of the best locations in all of potomac feeds a great school district very desirable for the average american upscale 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 it's called release the right side of the same table mrs clinton you know who is now secretary of state came many times just

a lot of people come from the hill and big big law firms while one in seven americans rely on food stamps at me shelvey shard citron now an average couple isn't shy to shell out what most couples make in a month on a meal or the tax on the temperance of a six hundred dollar range or whatever it may be and some nights we do as many as forty fifty. and people love it at a time when most are struggling to survive it seems like the lucky in washington are living it up preassure either r t washington d.c. . well for more on the divide between rich and poor stay tuned for our interview with a little later with a grammy award winning guitarist tom morello who argues that capitalism is destroying the world. you know capital job is to remake the world in its image and to create. and to create wants to create unnecessary wants so there's products to sell to newly dissatisfied consumers that's why you have to have the right pair of jeans to be attractive in the right gear to be your thirst quencher the right you

know by a group pill to succeed in romance. you know these things are so in that regard apple very successful. indian administered kashmir has been gripped by a string of separatist protests in summer which forced many schools to shut down although children are having to give up their traditional winter break to catch up on lost days in the classroom but as archie's charan singh reports the return to school represents the beginning of a backlash by some against militant separatists. in srinagar this is all that remains of a school bus it was gored by a whopping forcing a general strike called by separatists in the capital of the needed 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 schools which remain open during the frequent strike school by separatists who want independence afternoon spread of the bus attack many schools shut down for the day but not the issue of school i wanted to show the dead we are not. those miscreants may be a very few if you. had to live difficult to survive separatist leaders have condemned the attack which is at the center of a public backlash separatist independence focus we need which has been due to its administered by india since british rule in india with most parents ignoring this rankles anybody separatists are we considering that meant it should not be counterproductive i mean we are giving a strike call because we believe that we did present apartment 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 with children what i need will to attend school for four months and last year. i just. wonder then that with the violence easing now parents are adamant that you attend school with the militants like it or not we should be proud of finding that the people in kashmir. very serious about educating the children. and especially the girl children the girl jack. has four children. fifteen spends most of her day locked at last in extra tuition to cover the civil. authorities meanwhile have decided to give school during the meeting so that

students can recover the last. one is happy with this decision education infrastructure in question is so poor and it's all so pathetic that schools that even don't have windows and doors how can you how can you 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 right to have a window because it's not i mean they wanted as i did it when they had but then why are we suffering if we had nothing to do with the as i believe you going to. go next the swedish use clearly affecting people. with these children now being caught up in the political if it's called. whether or not the academic future is going to be impacted lies entirely in the hands of the little button thing r.t. . let's not have a closer look at some headlines from around the world the speaker of the tunisian

parliament for what has been a sworn in as interim president of a country in crisis it follows the ousting of president zine el abidine ben ali he's fled to saudi arabia after violent protests against his rule the speaker is to seek the formation of a national unity government for the elections within two months security forces are patrolling the streets in an attempt to quell civil unrest in which twenty have died in recent weeks. thousands of rescue workers in southeastern brazil are continuing a desperate search for people trapped under modern debris from landslides as renewed rains hit the country it's fear. the current death toll of almost six hundred may increase sharply after remote areas are reached seven days of national mourning have been declared for the victims of the worst natural disaster in four decades. officials in saddam are counting votes following the end of a weeklong referendum on independence for the south of the country so it was ruling

party of the north says it's ready to accept the south's independence about four million people registered to vote in what is expected to create the world's newest country it's hoped the decision will end a cycle of civil war that killed over two million people before a peace agreement in two thousand and five officials say the results of the vote will be released early next month. require lease of clashed with extremists trying to attack a pro my grandpa protest march in athens the protesters were demanding the government halts plans for a fence on the turkish border to stop illegal immigration police fired tear gas and disperse the counter demonstrators walks in the songs of the return receipt last year became the biggest destination for illegal immigrants in the european union. now for those who fancy fast driving and traveling through while the winter

wonderland russian inventors have developed a new mode of transport for which skidding on the ice will be a problem built by aviation engineers the winter hovercraft glides over the snow at speeds of up to one hundred fifty kilometers per hour artie's we are phenomena fastened her seatbelt and when first spin. rushes snow drifts in the winter oh impossible slush in the supreme can make long hard for many but this one can go just about everywhere. was. the russian pons kate to can travel at speeds of up to one hundred fifty kilometers

per hour making it ideal as a snappy run round or a had turning hobby ocean course through a siberian man board 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 garrett's it's so easy. 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 cough ski home to russia's annual international asho and buy for my avocation engineers not surprising than it has a lot in common with its weened brothers some of them is paid and it 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 propeller that's mounted up front or 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. there are 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 and for those who want one they're queuing already so there's no problems with demand. today it may only be two seats floating in a cushion of air but if you float an upgrade idea past the engineers they're more than happy to listen that is of course if you stump up the twenty thousand bucks price tag if the garry's floats your boat. or if an ocean r.t.e. mostly region. musicians are rising up against guantanamo and protesting against their music being used as torture next we talked to a grammy award winning guitarist tom morello who has a goal to bring about social change through his talent.

he's the face behind the guitar. hard hitting grammy award winning guitarist tom morello strength to the beat to the sounds of social justice. from his early days as lead guitarist of rage against the machine.

the street sweeper social club tom morello incorporate social issues of the past and present to mobilize his fans toward political change. r t sits down with tom morello tomorrow thanks so much for joining us and happy to be something out the press question now you were a member of the class of s b ten seventy what's you give your voice to the integration debate well i was happy to join the immigration debates and the boycott of arizona through the sound strike which is founded by exactly the roach of the singer of rage against the machine and it was a simple matter of him texting me asking what i thought i said i'm all in what can we do to help so rage against the machine reached out to many of our friends other artists to ask them to join in the boycott it's a law which basically. makes mandatory racial profiling and as someone who's been

you know i spent a lot of my life being the victim of racial profiling i was that i was i literally integrated the town of libertyville illinois i was the first person of color to reside within its borders and so growing up there i would regularly be pulled over by the cops even recently a couple years ago i was walking home from a bar at night and i got pulled over and put a hand up the side of the road so i looked like i might be someone who was stealing cars in the area so i thought firsthand visceral experience with racial profiling so i know what that law would mean to the daily lives of brown skinned people in arizona worried and acted. and so. what sound strike does. we were asked by organizers within arizona who are fighting against s p ten seventy to lend our names to the international boycott which goes beyond music its unions or boycott the city of los angeles is boycott the state until the law is that awful racist laws thrown out once and for all tom what do you make of international organizations like the u.s. you can be absolutely live up to their objectives of helping developing nations and

ending world conflicts or do you think that they absolutely cater to the benefits of the more wealthy or developed nations well i mean if the question is has the you know how successful is the u.n. been the u.n. security council is basically in the hands of the united states and its closest ally you know that. one hundred fifty countries you know around the planet can vote to that this has been a war crime the u.s. just says no it's not and that's the end of the discussion so it's not really so much a united nations as it is a. body of countries that is beholden to the interests of a few and so it behaves much like you'd expect you know the u.s. government to use your music as a form of you know worst techniques that some people consider torture blasting your music for seventy two hours nonstop so you essentially convince detainees to give information how did you feel when you found out that the u.s. government had used your music to torture people when we learned that the united

states government was using rage against machines music to torture people guantanamo bay we sued the state department to get him to stop and we were unsuccessful in that suit and pursued over the course of a couple of years and i think it's a thing of the crime my only hope is that on that day hopefully at some point not in the too distant future when the war criminals of the bush administration are brought to trial or one day wearing their yellow jumpsuits and black hoods it will be the music of rage against the machine that is pumped into their cells twenty four hours a day how would you say capitalism has affected the worlds. it's omnipresence you have had the opportunity to tour in many countries around the planet. even over the course of my tour history which has been about eighteen years now. you know perth starts to look like lisbon starts to look like berlin start to look like mexico city they all the same dunkin donuts the same benetton shops you know capitalism is the job is to remake the world in its image and to create. and to

create wants to create unnecessary wants so there's products to sell to newly dissatisfied consumers that's why you have to have the right pair of jeans to be attractive the right beer to be have your thirst quencher the right you know buy a grip pill to succeed in romance and you know these things are you know so in that regard capital is very successful what i would say is also successful you have to. say that there's a there's there's a balance to that and you look at the progressive change that happened a lot of south american countries over the course of the last last decade while u.s. while u.s. aggression was pointed at the middle east but there really has been. a resurgence in people's democracies that are not that are not dictators but you know you're seeing sort of indigenous people in power you're seeing economic domestic policy the south american countries geared towards helping the poor like saying out loud they're helping the poor some you can never say in the united states an election and so there is some some reason for hope what role do you think musicians should

play as far as social justice and political change goes you think that they should take on a more like role and work towards different issues or do you think they should get on the ground and work with movements to implement that's. what i would say first of all i would never what musicians need to do is is what is honest to themselves you know i would never suggest that musicians to do not have a sort of social conscious adopt one because i suggested you know i mean but but on the other hand i think that not just musicians but people in any profession whether they're journalists or cameramen or you know groundskeeper. but they don't divorce their lives from their politics and their beliefs and that's you know what i didn't choose to be a guitar player that shows me i'm stuck being a top player and it's my job to weave my convictions into my work into my vocation and so i try to do that through you know the the music that i create my interaction with the audience and the nonprofit you know groups and organizations i support you know through my music so that's why i recommend just don't do musicians at whatever

level whether you're playing stadiums or whether playing in basements to not be afraid to weave your convictions into what you write about and what you do with your art tom morello member of the. club an international activist it was great to have you thanks so much thanks very much for having.

this is tree still keeps its secrets but now it's time to reveal the hidden in the soviet files house on the embankment. repairing a broken ancient. highway construction and humanitarian aid. but as shady officials market the spoils of war it's the people who pay the price. profiteering here is no longer just down to drug traffic.