the new activists christians in iraq fear they are being driven out of their country with constant sectarian attacks targeting a minority group. with some u.s. politicians famous for the words they make a point advising the world on democracy doubts rise whether americans even care enough to notice. and we tell you the story of how good spirits and personal strength keep the elderly people growing in brussels western europe and our close up team takes the road to get. a warm welcome to you live from our headquarters in central moscow this is r.t.

it's four pm here in the russian capital and in baghdad our top story this hour sectarian violence has forced iraqi christians to seek haven in a relatively calm northern region of kurdistan hundreds of thousands of the minority group fled there in the years following the two thousand and three u.s. led invasion and as sebastian wire reports from iraq those who stayed are continued a target of extremists. 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 forced 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 the lack i'm going to put money on just to buy some chocolates and come back i went out and didn't see anything i just had the bomb and i fell to the ground and the room was lying in the street. her foot

dangling from her leg her father i had rushed outside. i saw my daughter lying lightly groans it was a live and. 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 shaking 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 and live in peace but in leaving 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 switch of land in my name why what's my crime many in the church feel that countries in the west are responsible. some opinion most americans are liars we don't trust their reputation is terrible because everywhere they've been they have like the us train the sunni and shia and they just watch while they kill it is impossible not to see all these murders and they don't get involved. 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 meier r t so women near iraq. the protests in egypt have gained fresh momentum with labor unions and state media joining the popular rebellion the country's regime has threatened the protesters with military force the demonstrations persist the government also lashed out at the u.s. expressing its anger and frustration with washington's actions saying america should impose its will on cairo comes amid allegations that during the barak's rule america turn to blind eye to rampant corruption and human rights abuses in an exclusive interview r.t. spoke to the secretary general of the arab league. believes the unrest in egypt is just the beginning of a region wide up evolve. the arab world is in a state of change in the mood to change in a mood of change with different degrees of change and different interpretation of

the world change. the end of the day it is a change if you want is for. us as a as it is the job event in the history perhaps not only are we. 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 in some countries before but not with this intensity. here with our team live from moscow still coming up in the program for you a brain drain in politics. with u.a.d. has one of the highest levels of every great should it be you many of the young people who i've spoken to here say they see their future employment beyond the borders of the country where more widely educated youth of lithuania is looking abroad for opportunity.

u.s. politicians don't often hold back when it comes to their views of the world but it seems they haven't always check their facts and as you can now reports it's the american people who are becoming part of the joke. 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 lease or any air i also want to thank the president the way any group of our members of congress visited with her yesterday in choosing great leader we also had the opportunity meet with members of the opposition many of whom have countrymen residing in prison have been. tortured are. we had a chance of meeting during the same conference the former presidential candidate

known 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. stand 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 not prides himself on having pushed democracy in egypt during his presidency thought africa was a nation africa's a nation has suffered from the incredible disease the winner of hearts and minds of millions of americans sarah paling to the to 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 paling has further contributed to her credibility in foreign affairs when commenting on the u.s. stance with regards to north korea obviously got to stand with our north korean allies were bound to create by trees and worry about by well the paradoxes 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 we generally americans. in different they don't pay attention to world events and you can easily manipulate them crust 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 the wonder. if the public is not able to notice the ignorance of their politicians they won't be able to hold them accountable for their the social something that is one of the biggest threat to democracy in america i'm going to check our reporting from washington our team. remember there's always more news on our web site r t v dot com here's what's lined up for you all mind right now despite the tempting side of one hundred twenty thousand dollars the boss driver in russia takes the honest road after finding back some caps. and customs officers in russia get into hot water after appearing in an amateur hour rapid video showing the bling side of the job find out about these stories and much more on our website our team.

but the way in is experiencing a worrying brain drain with the population plummeting by more than ten percent in the last decade and the impact of the world financial crisis has made the outflow of people even more aggressive. educated and point the rhenish give it she's 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 job because of their economic. situation in the country so my

parents and they are living in ireland for six years whole already and i decided. to ireland today 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 their. way to his job then sitting just here and doing nothing this. is carrying out a census in march to determine the current population demographic preliminary government statistics for twenty ten show that 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 immigration 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 question is in english russian polish as well as a few 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 for 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. but it's excellence. in the year two thousand and fifty.

five million. 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 is to provide health security to the flood maybe it is to provide conditions for people to study which now it's. difficult because it is becoming expensive for people spend money on something i mean after money and when i can do. that i think we have to rearrange the access some access some poor people for especially for young people any changes come too late for rena she's already made her move to pastures new and to search for employment in western europe these are all other deals. well there is no fires or news that escapes the prying eyes of our economic expert max kaiser and his co-host stacy herbert enjoy a slice of global thinking at the kaiser report coming up at four pm g.m.t.

. 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 the car called the was unveiled to the public and london this week the team is gearing up to drive it on to the russian colors in just over a month when the new season starts the president their motorcycle life i meant gus says his team performed well so far. we managed to build here in times conditions a new modern and technically advanced on a model production when you started working for formula one and succeeded in some of our undertakings but it means that everything responsible so at least we deserve to be respected for what i did and what was. it's coming up to quarter past the hour a look now at some major headlines from around the world

a teenage suicide bomber dressed in school uniform struck at a military facility in northwestern pakistan killing at least thirty soldiers and wounding over forty others the attacker detonated his explosives laden during an earlier session in the city. the incidents described as one of the worst against pakistani security forces in recent months militants have carried out scores of suicide bombings and other terror attacks in the past three years in the region killing thousands. marco would you trade is questioning it's part of a program to a military airstrike which killed dozens of civilians in afghanistan's kunduz province almost two years ago up to one hundred forty two people were killed because it was told that the attack on two fuel tankers which had been hijacked by taliban militants it's worked a political storm in germany claimed the jobs of several top military officials and that. a group of twenty eight somali pirates captured in the indian ocean have on

sunday have been handed over to mumbai police the pirates had hijacked a thai fishing vessel nine months ago we were using it as their base they were said to be preparing to attack a greek merchant ship when they were caught twenty four hostages were freed this is the second anti-piracy operation in the indian navy in the region in less than two weeks late last month the navy arrested fifteen pirates after a gun battle. and of these six people are missing after a gas explosion leveled two houses in northeastern u.s. state of pennsylvania more than five hundred people in surrounding areas have to be evacuated as a result of the fires ignited by the blast efforts to shut off the gas lines were hampered by fixed layers of ice and snow emergency teams worked overnight to put out the planes. are close a team continues its discovery of the western europe's area now as it explores the

republic and its capital city. i. i. this time the team discovers how russia's elderly are struggling to get by in the remote villages where they make up the majority of the population with tiny pensions and poor health care the older generation is a need of food medical assistance and support however as is often the case they only have themselves to rely on archie's arena glue scott 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 if it 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 seventy seven year old lives in her native village on her own money that self no no we don't mind living like this we don't want to die but we do have a huge problem with water but yes water seems to be the main concern for these women but once they start talking more problems come to surface after we can't get an ambulance out here probably because we're older and they think we're not important fish out of 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 lamentable that you. different between russia and the west is that or not country old age is considered to be a time of loss and remain this years whereas in the west it's a time for new. good nobody 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 the eighty for a private retirement home came to natalya when her mother died and she was looking for someone to look after her father the color bands and her high status job at a fair. terri and started her own business and when you see that you're good at what you do it's incredibly satisfying to both people coming frightened at first and then they start considering your family member it's especially satisfying when you realize you're doing something important new unfortunately these village women cannot afford to live in the tiger's home like millions of russia's elderly they're

forced to rely on their own strength in good spirits while they still have them for more on the issues which russia's elderly are facing today we are here joined by his 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 a common package of the problems the elderly people are facing in russian federation this is not our 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 funding to find out the money for the programs focus on the interest of the elderly people and from all are the people of the new various ngo it's about sixteen percent only goes for the grants through the end job

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. they with our teeth to see one of the oldest and largest protected areas the caucuses nature preserve this world heritage site can only be reached by helicopter but it's a trip that offers many rewards if you watch our x.l. report at six thirty pm g.m.t. here's a preview of. discovery. communications with the wind. and become. see what nature can give you.

well business is next here in our in see that's check in with you. because hi there the russian stock market taking a beating a third day now what's going on well actually no reasons to grow we're having prices go down for the six straight session we having futures for the u.s. markets looking down we have a european markets trading down so really there's no room for growth we'll talk about that in a second first of all russia's ads even openly watchdog has opened a formal investigation into three of the country's top producers for price fixing that's after prime minister putin questioned why prices for jet fuel and diesel set by cast from a blue course have risen faster than the price of crude oil two years ago the watchdog impose fines of nearly a billion dollars against the likes of balls now lou for you for fixing prices but unscented seaman of general director of the national energy security fund believes finds the right way to ensure competition. the problem is that we have knowing the

refineries and us all seriously foreign that is the part of this we have to go integrated and in my opinion if we really want to struggle for a law where the prices for. the wall we must sink not about fines we must think about structural reform of our industry we must have independent refineries and the only i see that this is the only one way to struggle with high oil prices if we want low price on petrol we must have real complete the mission of our market if you will have no independent fire that is there will be no competition. gazprom is posed to the third quarter net profit of five point four billion dollars down nine percent from the previous year the figures were in line with expectations russia's biggest company in terms of the decline to long to debt interest payments and a decrease in demand gazprom supplies around a quarter of europe's gas needs though its market share has dropped in the last two

years due to the inflow about terms of energy sources of the markets now european stock markets are lower than those by heavyweight banking stocks shares of credit suisse spell well almost three percent of the bank reported a six percent rise and fall to net profit fell short of forecasts other banks were also down h.s.b.c. for example falling more than one percent lloyds bank grouping banking group shedding point nine percent two russian stocks are declining for a third straight session the r.t.s. there taking a beating of two percent myself so almost there one point eight percent investors are shifting their as it's out of developing countries or emerging markets concerned that inflation will hurt growth the r.t.s. is as i said one thousand eight hundred sixty points. more in more detail now some of the stocks energy majors are the main drag as well as dropping to around eighty six and a half dollars a barrel is the sixth day of decline for west texas crude gazprom the aft is

therefore down two point three percent and this is a worry that the refinery will suffer most of russian anti monopoly watchdog forces fuel prices lower drug maker protagoras than three percent of reporting twenty ten revenue rising nine point one percent and b.c.b.s. down another three and a half percent after falling four point six on tuesday. to levin's two growing plants or child piper has stopped an upcoming initial public offering due to unfavorable market conditions the company had planned to sell around thirty percent of its shares on the my six r.t.s. and london stock exchanges in a bid to raise up to eight hundred twenty eight million dollars and as predicted the i.p.o. would have value become pretty between two and two point seven billion dollars. the ruble is climbed five percent against the dollar over the past three months this is the best before my among twenty five emerging market currencies because it is appreciation is helping keep inflation in check as it reduces the cost of imported goods but as an example you think you are from the capital explains the russian

central bank needs to balance its concern over rising prices against attracting unwanted speculative capital. for the central bank the tradeoff is really they need to they need someone to come conflation by the same time they. can't allow it to cause because otherwise they will treat it kept telling flows and it will make the problem of fighting inflation even more difficult so we're seeing the ruble against the dollar at twenty nine thirty by the year end which is not far from where we are now but much stronger against the basket. so we in total for this year we're seeing just we see seven percent. against a bust. so leaders furniture giant ikea has its two top selling stores worldwide in russia according to the company's chief in this country still has investment plans this year for russia focused on preservation rather than expansion

but amazing we have about two hundred twenty million people visiting me goes. that's an increase of about sixteen seventeen percent so that's an amazing figure and we have also a sales increase in the same in the same or sixteen seventeen percent sales which which is which is growing much much faster than the rest of the world so russia is actually very very important for us and there's one interesting thing is that the two top selling keil stores in the world tour russians do so from a volume wise russia is really do well. right on back in one i was signed with an update and he says next with the headlights don't go away.

the longest big game hunting history. she was trying to stall and they took. what sprung the traps they laid for him. on the radio we have the surge walks around the area. always from the always missing. one shot trying to

take. out the global drug industry's godfather became the most want to trophy the world's gouty hunters. escobar to grace hunt on our take. home from the fukushima you the latest in science and technology from the ground floor should. we dump the future or covered. wealthy british style. that's not on. the. market why not come to. find out what's really happening.