the new x. so this drops christian community shrinks as thousands are displaced in the face of growing violence and the on the willingness of security forces to protect them. we are proceeding with our missile defense because of the threat we face from iran from the soviet union frequent bluebirds by u.s. politicians hoping to plant democracy across the world only served to plant doubts over their expertise in global affairs plots. we want to do more so where is to number of populations over the age of sixty five to find out help pensioners here are coping with everyday problems look at the heavy burden of old age in russia as provinces that's coming up in our tease close up series. and our top business story

rushes out to monopoly watchdog opens a formal investigation into the country's top three oil producers for price fixing we'll hear more about that from our guest analyst and twenty minute. live from our studios in central moscow this is our team with me nice and now it's two pm here in the russian capital and first this hour violence and intimidation has forced hundreds of thousands of iraqi christians to flee their homeland experts view them as one of the biggest victims of the two thousand and three u.s. led invasion with a minority group continue target of extremists sebastian my reports now from iraq but every night miriam gets ready for bed with her family but it's not her bed it's not even her house miriam and her family are christian iraqis who have been for. to

flee from baghdad to the semi autonomous kurdish region because they become targets of extremist groups in the country in two thousand and seven miriam was hit by a bomb that was planted outside her house they lack i went out with my arm just to buy some chocolate and come back i went out and didn't see anything i just had the bomb and i fell to the ground miriam was lying in the street with her foot dangling from her leg her father i had rushed outside. i saw my daughter lying on the ground it was a live in my my daughter was lying in the growing and people were running shouting everything was covered in dust and shards of glass so i picked up my daughter with her leg dangling i almost lost it i was shouting my daughter's date she's been hit by a bomb but. luckily i had was able to get her to a doctor who could repair her leg but others have not been so lucky in october last

year fifty six people were killed by militants when they attacked the our lady of salvation church in baghdad in the following weeks dozens more were killed in attacks across the country many fear that eventually christians will be driven out of iraq completely of the eight hundred thousand christians in the country before two thousand and three almost half of fled in the past month alone four thousand have moved to the comparative safety of the northern kurdish region here they can worship in live in peace but in the evening their homes they've lost absolutely everything many like miriam's father and are forced to make a living cleaning toilets in bars and restaurants. i served for seven years in the military under saddam hussein i'm an iraqi christian and i don't have a square foot of land to my name why what's my crime many in the church feel that countries in the west are responsible. some opinion americans are liars we don't trust them their reputation is terrible because everywhere they've been they have

lied the us trained the sunni and shia and they just watch while they kill us it is impossible not to see all these murders but they don't get involved who says he it's the end of a long day and time for the family to go to bed. everyone gets ready and eventually the lights are switched off in the darkness and uncertainty miriam and the rest of her family are left to dream about and hope for a better tomorrow sebastian meyer r t so iraq. a fresh wave of anti-government rage is sweeping across egypt as the labor unions and state media joined the popular rebellion the country's embattled regime has responded with crowds and an all too made on warning the protesters of dire consequences that run television and newspapers change sides virtually overnight backing the demonstrators various industries and transport services also want strikes me some wide demanding greater transparency and less government

intervention authorities and turns out a tougher response and went so far as the threat really terry involvement of a coup in an exclusive interview r.t. spoke to the secretary general of the arab league and here home it also says that the arm rest in egypt is just the beginning of a region wide peaceful. the arab world is in a state of change and a mood change in a mood of change with different degrees of change and different interpretation of the word change but. the end of the day it is a change everybody is feeling the effect of peace. as a as a problem it is a major event in the history perhaps not only. history of nations but it is an uprising of the people and by the people. it is new in this part of the world it happened and some countries before but this intensity. with

r.t.t.y. from moscow still have the sour for you people leaving a different country for tiredly different reason. if you or anyone has one of the highest levels of emigration you many of the young people who i've spoken to here say they see their future. beyond the borders of country we explore why one baltic nation is in the grip of a dangerous brain drain that's coming up in a few minutes time. now u.s. politicians aren't shy when it comes to offering opinions on foreign affairs even when it's obvious they haven't done their homework bloopers may be commonplace on capitol hill but it's art is that it's to can reports it's the american people who have become the butt of the chalk. advising other countries on democracy seems to be a must for any u.s. politician and some of them get so carried away that they confuse what countries exactly they're talking about commenting on democracy in belarus john mccain for

some reason called it leads to any air i also want to thank the president the way no group of our members of congress visited with her you should choose a great leader and we also had the opportunity meet with members of the opposition many of whom have a low countrymen residing in prison have been beaten tortured. we had cancer meeting during the same conference the former presidential candidate down one of the most influential republican senators referred to russia as the soviet union we all know that our missile defense rather modest. earmark. we are proceeding with it because of the threat we face from iran not from the soviet union. but senator mccain is gaffes don't stop there i'm afraid that it's

a very hard struggle particularly given the situation on the iraq pakistan border probably only in mccain's mind did pakistan share a border with iraq but he's not the only u.s. politician who's quick to share their expertise in world affairs without checking some facts george w. bush will now prime. on having pushed democracy in egypt during his presidency africa was a nation africa's a nation or suffers from the incredible disease the winner of hearts and minds of millions of americans sarah pailin two thought africa was a country some two years ago but now nothing seems to stop her from handing out advice on how to deal with egypt this is pale and has further contributed to her credibility in foreign affairs when commenting on the u.s. stance with regards to north korea obviously and what our north korean allies were down to create worry about by well the paradox is is that politicians who really know nothing about these things have to appear to know something they have to speak out on all of these issues to be considered credible figures so sarah palin you

know who could see russia from her door and her window you know is now an expert on russia or whatever else the reason why us politicians feel free to make bloopers on international issues could be that many of their audience is can't catch the inconsistences well it's very easy to manipulate people when they don't know anything so they generally americans. indifferent they don't pay attention to world events and you can easily manipulate them because of their public ignorance or ghastly after waging wars in iraq and afghanistan for years figures show most americans still have difficulties finding the countries on the map it is the only. world. if the public is not able to notice the ignorance of their politicians they won't be able to hold them accountable for their decision something that is one of the biggest threat to democracy in america i'm going to

check our reporting from washington r.t. . you can find more on that and many more stories on our web site r t v dot com here's what's online through right now a band of quite interesting roles is terrifying a remote town in russia attacking livestock at will. even more than forty horses dead in just four days about how the locals are fighting back in a bid to stop companies. and discover how russians tired of choking on summer smog and freezing in better winters are making their capital more eco friendly with the help of art all the details of our chain dot com .

with a growing number of people leaving lithuania to head west for work this small nation is in danger of getting even smaller and as the government prepares to carry out a major census fears are that the population has plummeted by half a million in the last decade peter all over reports on lithuania losing its best and brightest. young educated and unemployed rhenish curvatures a twenty four year old computer science graduate she can't find work in her native build this so is headed to another country in search of a job she's one of the lucky ones she'll be reunited with her mother and father who have already made the switch i have finished university here and i couldn't find a chop because of their economic. situation in the country so my

parents and they are living in ireland for a six year seoul already and i decided. to ireland to live with them and to find a job there more and more lithuanians are falling victim to the baltic brain drain young people finish their studies at home and then look for a job in western europe where salaries are much higher however the global financial crisis and crippling recession in countries like ireland means that the move abroad doesn't always provide the opportunities it once did its always so risky but. it's now a days it's better to go to ireland. to find a job if there. is job then sitting just here and doing nothing in this lithuania is carrying out a census in march to determine the current population demographic preliminary government statistics for twenty ten show last year alone an estimated eighty three

thousand people left the country many in search of work elsewhere lithuania has one of the highest levels of emigration in the e.u. many of the young people who i've spoken to here say they see their future employment beyond the borders of their native country this is one of the reasons that the twenty eleven census that will take place here will be the most comprehensive in the nation's history. with questionnaires in english russian polish as well as if you were in the department of social statistics are desperate to find out how many people are living in the country they expect to see the two thousand and one population of three point four million fall by almost five hundred thousand with no apparent end in sight to the exodus the long term estimates paint a bleak picture for the next forty years here too not so bright. but it's excellence. in the year two thousand and fifty.

five million in. the task of bill this is to try and keep the best and brightest from being lost to the brain drain to safeguard the future but how social security the second was to provide health security was in before and maybe it is to provide conditions for people to study because now it's really difficult because it is becoming expensive when people spend money on something i mean after money and when i can do. about i think we have to really interest access them access some of the people for especially for young people any changes come too late for arena she has already made her move to pastures new and the search for employment in western europe peter oliver r.t. the list. well no economic troubles escape the clutches of our financial guru max kaiser enjoy a bit of global thinking of his so coming up next hour. the

russian flag will be flying high in formula one racing this season as a brand new car hits the track for its first test drive a car called more ross was revealed to the public at a packed media launch in london earlier this week the team is gearing up to drive it under the awesome colors of just over a month when one season starts president of the russian motors nikolai family says he's proud of his team's achievements. we managed to build here in times conditions a new modern and technically advanced automobile production when we started working for formula one and succeeded in some of our undertakings but it means that everything is possible so we're pleased we deserve to be respected for what i did when we stood by him for what. now for a brief look at some other major headlines around the world a teenage suicide bomber has killed thirty one people and wounded forty others at

a military training center in northwestern pakistan the boy is said to have detonated his vest as army recruits were going for morning drills according to earlier reports the attacker who was about fourteen was wearing a school uniform no one has claimed responsibility but the taliban had earlier vowed to tell get the region. a leftist colombian rebel group has set free a thirty five year old town councilman the first of five hostages it has promised to release this week the man was reunited with his family after more than a year in captivity the move has sparked hopes that the government and the rebel group could hold ten and four decades of conflict but the country's president said that there was little chance of peace unless the guerrilla faction released all hostages and halted its drug operations. a natural gas explosion in the u.s. city of allentown has leveled two houses triggered fires and prompted

a mass evacuation the blaze quickly spread to nearby buildings destroying an entire row of houses more than seven hundred people have been evacuated from the neighborhood while emergency services search for two missing persons officials say efforts to battle the fires were being complicated by bad weather and. are close a team continues to discover the western your rolls area as they get to explore the . republic and its capital. this time margie's team learns how russia's elderly struggle to survive in the far your rule of villages where they make up the majority of the population with small pensions and poor health care the older generation is in debt. need of support food and medical assistance but in most cases they have to rely on their own strength

and determination. listen to their stories. for many of russia's elderly their golden years seem to be anything but that a lot of them feel abandoned by their children who do not seem to pay enough attention to their parents they also feel abandoned by their government which they say does not supply enough aid in order for the pensioners to make it in their day to day lives so we wanted morsi aware significant number of populations over the age of sixty five to find out how pensioners here are coping with everyday problems . already bitter over gets her daily exercise by breaking the ice in the well she'd much rather do without it but then she'd have no water the seventy seven year old lives in her native village on her own. is that we don't mind living like this we don't want to die but we do have a huge problem with water. water seems to be the main concern for these women but once they start talking more problems come to surface what if we can't get an

ambulance out here probably because we're old and they think we're not important. how did thirty people in this village twenty are over the age of sixty we have no access to running water medical help or food so for them it's not so much about enjoying life as it is about survival the main problem of these women is their age miniscule pensions and poor healthcare make the lives of russia's elderly all but unbearable but many say the way the elderly are perceived in the country is even more of meant to. friends between russia and the west is that or not country old age is considered to be a time of loss and reminiscence whereas in the west it's a time for new possibilities with good news he believes russia is in a dire need of more social programs to provide care for the elderly one woman in the jeffs is already. doing her part for a private retirement home came to natalya when her mother died and she was looking

for someone to look after her father in the taliban and her high status job it effectively and started her own business. when you see that you're good at what you do it's incredibly satisfying oh people come in frightened at first and then they start considering your family member it's especially satisfying when you realize you doing something important you unfortunately these village women cannot afford to live in the home like millions of russians they're forced to rely on their own strength in good spirits while they still have them for more in their shoes which russians elderly are facing today we are here joined by to have as a doctor who is the director of a charity foundation united way at the time to thank you very much for coming to meet with us today to tell us which issues the pensioners in russia are facing at the moment. thank you very much for inviting me i would like to say that this is a common package of the problems the elderly people are facing in russian federation this is not only the financial issues which are extremely important but

this is also their social isolation the lack of social support there of medical and other possibility for the elderly people frankly speaking it's very difficult in russia to get a friend in to find out the money for the programs focus on the interest of the elderly people and from all our the pull of the money raised annually it's about sixteen percent only goes for the grants through the ngo providing assistance to the elderly well stay for more of the close up coverage as we continue to cover the events of morsy and will cover other issues in our future programs as well. our day will grind you further through the beauties of russia later today you'll have a chance to visit one of the oldest the largest protected areas in the country the caucuses nature reserve but this world heritage site can only be reached by helicopter but it's an experience you'll never forget. discovering.

nature can give you. a live business update with current account is coming your way right here on our team. had a welcome to a business program good to have you with me rushes and see monopoly watch dog has opened a formal investigation into three of the country's top oil producers for price fixing that's after prime minister putin questioned why prices for jet fuel and diesel set by while sniffed gas palm and lukoil have risen faster than the price of crude oil two years ago when all three watchdog imposed fines of nearly

a billion dollars against the likes of ross have to acquire and tainted b.p. for fixing prices in the oil products market and to discuss this and more detail i'm not done by constantine soon enough. of national energy security fund thank you for coming to the program now how serious is this and when the probe against these oil companies is that you know this story is not new so every year we heard we have the same which. fortunately is the same so i mean a supporter and you will say why do well prices is so high well company is saying that look good. there will be no more increase prices and to monopoly which is ok usually you say in the nawal real live press on them but i think the problem is the structure of our industry because it's not a secret that we have so-called you have to go integrated oil company it means that from oil wells battle stations it's still the property of one company so that is

why if you if you have no independent refinery you have usually the same situation so that is why maybe today. will be more serious. in these valid result companies but if there will be no independent refinery which is not included the big oil companies i have. it's not our last look in this program uphold this program about this problem and still people question why i feel prices in a country that exports oil are so high compared to other countries i can't agree or is you'll have some oil exporting countries for example there is no way in reach petal prices two or three times higher that's why of course we have gulf countries in which really fuel is very cheap but in some countries as norway a president is more expensive than russia but it's not a good. companies will say that you have norway in more we will prices. this is.

the reason in my opinion so when the oil exporting countries an issue but the price is more the reason really as i said. absolutely normal structure for oil industry i think we can use an example of united states in which we also have big upstream companies but united states they have independent refineries and that is why they have real competition in this market in russia because no competition this is the main problem but speaking of this probably know that the government. has stakes in these or major companies in somehow science parent do you think this problem and this case. yes of course our main producing companies are sniffed company and. government has more than thirty five more than eighty one percent but now we see the process of brute ization so that is why i can't agree for example in this

argument that in the rush to do last ten years we have the process of innocence and yes we have the process of making this new system but during last several years we begin to serious and you know that there is a fishel plans to sell even more than fifty percent of the sniff company so it really is that the. companies will be more and more private the share of private investors will be more serious in our industry but the problem is the transparency as i said if you have private property but the structure of the same if you are a private group rate of the same business from whale to petrol station there will be no change in the system of pricing. but the government has recently we know that the government has recently fined lukoil and rosneft. for these price fixing why didn't they learn their lesson why is it as you said we're seeing that here but why why are we seeing the next one question because. we must go into details and see

there it is because during the last year the head of our and the monopoly which is looking to me if you listed that there will be as he said russian standard oil deal so he promised to us russian citizens that he will be as cool as. we stand the oil and you know the result of the story there was as i said there was splitting off stand the oil into several pieces but we have no splitting of our oil companies we have no disintegration of these big monsters and lines at the end you can see. the results of they were not so high it's approximately one percent or their incomes so there is a way. to monopoly which took the end of this year was not so tough was our oil companies and that is why i cannot say that they really paid this huge. amount of money and that is why i can say that as you said the serious it was not the serious

lessons for our oil companies because the fines were not so in the reality when of . looking at a slightly different issue all the tax reform proposed for the sector basically raise investment in the in production it's also interesting question because usually we know that we. exist on oil companies but in my opinion our state it was like to have a compromise so high taxes but possibility for oil companies do so little for more high prices for our citizens now our government is promising that the taxes on oil companies will go in down so there is in this case maybe we'll have another compromise maybe not so tough for texas but. decreasing of petrol prices on our them i see if i can but let's see it now there are a lot of discussion about the new tax system but still we cannot exist and maybe from the next year really we'll have one day system when you but will price thank you i'm afraid we're just running out of time but it's very very much for you to

come to the program thanks very much and that's all for now join me and less than a while from all read more on our website articles i've. read you the latest in science and technology from the ground. we've got the future covered. thanks.