[000:00:00;00] hey hey . the new accidents christians in iraq fear they are being driven out of their contrary with constant sectarian attacks targeting a minority group. this time us politicians are famous for the bloopers they make when it buys in the world on democracy it's the american people who are being turned into the object of ridicule. and we tell you the story of how good spirit and personal strength can be elderly people going in russia western europe as our close

a team takes to the broad to get. that five pm in moscow this is our chair with me and he said now a first stop 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 meyer reports from iraq those who stayed are continued target extremists that 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 for lack i went on just to buy some chocolate and come back and went out and didn't see anything i just heard the bomb and i fell to the ground and the room was lying in the street with her foot

dangling from her leg her father i had rushed outside. i saw my daughter lying like it was a living. my daughter was learning the growing and people running show saying everything was covered in dark street on a charge of glass so i picked up my daughter with her leg dangling i almost lost it i was shaking my daughter's gait 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 living 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 these women said i served first seven years in the military under saddam hussein i'm an iraqi christian and i don't have a square switch of lines in my name why what's my crime many in the church feel that countries in the west are responsible. 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 us it is impossible not to see all these murders but 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 many are 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 if demonstrations persist the government also lashed out at the u.s. expressing its anger and frustration with washington's actions saying america has sent to impose its will on karl rove it comes amid allegations that during mubarak's rule america turned a blind eye to rampant corruption in human rights abuses in an exclusive interview archie spoke to the secretary general of the arab league most believe the un rest in egypt is just the beginning of a region wide all people the other border is in a state of change and a mood change in a mood of change with different degrees of change and different and the petitioner

the exchange in general i did end of the day is a change everyone is fighting for. demonstrations as a second. job event in the history perhaps not only. history of nations but there is an uprising of the people and by the people. it is new in this budget of the world it happened and in some countries before but not to this intensity. live from moscow still coming up on the program a brain drain in the baltics. if you a leader has one of the highest levels of immigration it could 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 by the educated youth of lithuania is looking abroad for opportunity costs. of thirty people who still is twenty or over the age of sixty three having access to running water medical help or food so for them it's

not so much about enjoying life as it is about survival we'll take you to the western europe for a look at the plight of the elderly they're forced to fend for themselves in the middle of nowhere. but first 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 just aren't going to carry reports if the american people who are becoming the butt 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. i also want to thank the president with the way you know group of our members of congress visited with her. great leader we also had the opportunity to meet with members of the opposition many of whom i have fellow

countrymen residing in prison have been. tortured. 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's 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 not prides himself on having pushed democracy in egypt during his presidency thought africa was a nation africa's

a nation or suffers from 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 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 cry were you have bound 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 sig years 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 are indifferent they don't pay attention to world events and you can easily manipulate them trust. oh there are good actually after waging wars in iraq and afghanistan for years figures show most americans still have difficulties finding the countries on the map to get to the real. 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 decisions some say that is one of the biggest threats 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 online right now despite the tempting side of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars a bus driver in russia takes the honest road after finding packs of cameras. and

customs officers in russia get into hot water after appearing in an amateur video showing the bling side of the job find out about these stories and much more at our teen dot com. the way neo's experiencing a worrying brain drain with the population plummeting by more than ten percent in the last decade and the impact of the world's financial crisis has made the outflow of people even more aggressive. young educated and unemployed the rhenish have 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 and my parents and they are living in ireland for a six year seoul already and i decided to off 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 brazen but. it's now a days it's better to go to ireland. to find a job 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 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 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 so 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 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 to. go our. projections. in the year two thousand and fifteen will be on local. 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 social security the second is to provide security for that 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 tax system taxes some sort of people for especially for young people any changes come too late for arena she's already made the move to pastures new and to search for employment in western europe these are all of the vilest. and there's no

financial news that escapes the prying eyes of our economic expert max kaiser and his co-host stacy herbert enjoy a slice of global thinking in the kaiser report coming up at four pm. an urgent investigation has been launched after the russian president personally discovered major security lapses at a railway station in moscow it came to me three days of paid a surprise visit to one of the capital's main station he discovered no police or metal detectors that were supposed to be inside security on transport was meant to have been tightened across the country following the recent attack on moscow's domodedovo airport a suicide bomber blew himself up in january killing thirty six people and injuring more than one hundred. a brief look now at some other stories making headlines around the world a teenage suicide bomber dressed in school uniform has struck at

a military facility in northwestern pakistan killing at least thirty soldiers and wounding forty others the attacker detonated his explosives laden during an early training session in the city of marjah. 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 two years in the region killing thousands. german chancellor angela merkel is due to face questioning it's part of a probe into a military airstrike which killed dozens of civilians in afghanistan's kunduz province almost two years ago after one hundred forty two people were killed as a result of the attack on two fuel tankers which had been hijacked by taliban militants it sparked a political storm in germany claiming the jobs of several top military officials.

a group of somali pirates twenty eight somali pirates i should say were captured who were captured in the indian ocean on sunday have been handed over to mumbai police the pirates had hijacked a thai fishing vessel nine months ago and 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 and this is the second antipoverty operation by the indian navy in the region in less than two weeks late last month the navy arrested fifteen partner it's after a gun battle. that at least six people are missing after a gas explosion level two houses in the northeastern u.s. state of pennsylvania more than five hundred people in surrounding areas had to be evacuated as a result of the fires ignited by the blast efforts to shut off the gas lines were hampered by thick layers of ice and snow emergency teams worked overnight to put out the blaze. or close a team continues its discovery of the western europe's area now as it explores life

in and around the city of. 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 in need of food medical assistance and support are to really go and 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're going to have more see where significant number of population is over the age of sixty five to find out how pensioners here are coping with

everyday problems. already peculiar gets her daily exercise by breaking the ice in the world should much rather do without it but then should have no water to seventy seven year old lives in her native village on her own. obvious 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 that water point to water seems to be the main concern for these women but once they start talking it's more problems come to surface at what if we can't get an ambulance out here probably because we're old and they think we're not important. 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 health care 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 be with you. as a moment. difference between russia and the west is that are not a country considered to be a time of loss and remain where as in the wisdom of the time for. good nobody believes russia is in a dire need of more social programs to provide care for the elderly one woman 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 and then did her high status job at a factory 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 a time. 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 in their shoes which

russia's elderly are facing today we are here joined by 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 that their. 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 are the interest of the elderly people and from all our the people 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 and we'll cover other issues in our future programs as well. and to stay with us to see one of the oldest and largest protected areas in russia the caucuses nature preserve this world heritage site can only be reached by helicopter but it's a trip that all first many rewards you can watch our report at six thirty pm g.m.t. here's a quick preview of. discovery to be. communicated with. and become. see what nature can give you. on the back of the headlines at half past the hour up next it's

a live business update with with us. thanks very much and it's russia's see monopoly watchdog has opened a formal investigation into three of the country's top oil producers for price speaks that's after prime minister putin questioned why prices for jet fuel and diesel set by ross nafta gazprom and lukoil have risen faster than the price of crude oil two years ago the watchdog imposed fines of nearly a million dollars against the likes of rosneft lukewarm t.k. b.p. for fixing prices but it's not since even the general director of the national energy security fund believes mines are not the right way to ensure competition. the problem is that we have no in the plan them to refineries in the us all serious or foreign there is there the part of this we have to integrated companies and in my opinion if we really want to struggle for law with all prices across the wall we must simply not about fines we must think about structural reform of our industry

we must have independent before and there is and only i think this is the only one way to struggle with high oil prices if we want to press one point that we must have real complete the mission of our market if we will have no independent why there is there will be no competition. gazprom is post of course and their profit of five point four billion dollars which is nine percent lower than the previous year the figures were in line with the six rotations however russia's biggest company had triggered declines in long debt interest payments and a decrease in demand gas from supplies around a quarter of europe's gas needs though its market share has dropped in the last two years due to the turn of events sources. that brings us nicely see the markets european stock markets are lower led by heavyweight banking stocks shares of clothes we fell off of the bank report a six percent rise in fourth quarter net profit fell short of forecasts russian

stocks are in decline preferred straight session investors are shifting their assets out of developing countries concerned the growth in emerging markets more news about some of the stocks now as you majors are the main drag as oil drops to around eighty six and a half dollars a barrel sixth day of the wind through west texas crude gazprom nafta's down two point four percent investors are worried the refinery will suffer most of the russian ultimately washed up forces fuel prices lower drugmaker protagoras down well three point two two point seven percent sorry after reporting twenty ten revenue rising nine point one percent. turnout in these two grueling planted shell pipe has stopped an upcoming initial public offering due to unfavorable market conditions becoming a plan to sell around thirty percent of its shares in the my six r.t.s. and london stock exchange in a bid to raise up to eight hundred twenty million dollars and this predicted the i.p.o. would have valued the company between two and two point seven billion dollars. read

i was as a lost twenty one million euros from its involvement with a russian carmaker after last year but that was down to the first half with after returning a profit of five million for the french company in the second half rather adds that it expects along with its alliance partner a nice quiet controlling stake in our survives by the. the ruble is quite five percent against the dollar over the past three months that's the best before twenty five managing market currencies because you appreciate it is helping keep inflation in check as it reduces the cost of imported goods but as alexander from d.t.b. capital explains russian central bank needs to balance its concern over rising prices against attracting unwanted speculative capital. the tradeoff is really they need to they need some appreciation to completely fell by the same time they. can't

allow it to thaw it 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 from where we are now but much stronger against the basket. so we in total for this year we're seeing this we see seven percent. against a bust. so it is furniture giant ikea has its two top selling stores worldwide in russia according to the company's chief in this country still ikea's investment plans this year for russia focused on preservation rather than expansion. what's amazing we have about two hundred twenty million people visiting the me. that's an increase of sixteen seventeen percent so that's an amazing figure and we

have also sales increase we're in the same in the same way sixteen seventeen percent sales increase 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 stores in the world two russians do so from a volume why is it here russia is really do it we'll. you can find these and other business stories on our website that's all to you know come forward slash business

i'll be back in one hour's time headlines are next thing with me so stay with us. well. bringing you the latest in science and technology from around the world.

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