the new x. it is christians in iraq fear they are being driven out of their country with constant sectarian attacks targeting the minority group. with some u.s. politicians frame is for the bloopers they make when inviting the world on democracy it's the american people who are being turned into the object of ridicule . and a surprise visit by the president renews concerns over transport security in brushoff need to be made visit personally discovers major lapses that one of moscow's main train stations. at seven pm in moscow this is r t coming to you live with me and he said now way

first up this hour sectarian violence has forced the rocky 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 that sebastian meyer reports from iraq those who've stayed there are continued target of extremist. 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 went out with my arm just to buy some chocolate and come back i went out and didn't see anything i just heard 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 but. i

saw my daughter lying like a grown 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 gaited she's been hit by a bomb. 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 foot of land 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 light 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 meyer r t so i'm in the iraq. still to come in the program a brain drain in the baltics. if you wait he 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 country we explore why the educated youth 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 can reports if the american people were becoming the butt of the joke devising 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 i also want to thank the president with the way you

know group of our members of congress visited with her yesterday in choosing a great leader a but we also had the opportunity to meet with members of the opposition many of whom have fellow countrymen residing in prison have been beaten tortured art bell roof. during the same conference the former presidential candidate and one of the most influential republican senators refer to russia as the soviet union we all know that our missile defense rather modest array earmarked. 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 has suffered from incredible disease the winner of hearts and minds of millions of americans sarah pailin to 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 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 cash the inconsistences well it's very easy to manipulate people when they don't know anything so on foreign policy generally americans are indifferent they don't pay attention to world events and you can easily manipulate them cuss. their public ignorance are gashly after waging wars in iraq and afghanistan for years figures show most americans still have difficulties finding the countries on the map in 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 r.t. . 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 of demonstrations persist the government also lashed out at the u.s. expressing its anger and frustration with washington's actions saying america shouldn't impose its will on karl rove come from it allegations that during the barak's rule america turned a blind eye to rampant corruption and human rights abuses in an exclusive interview archies the secretary general of the arab league amr moussa who believes the un was in egypt it was just the beginning of region wide option for the other border 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 word change but in general i bet the end of the day it is a change everyone is feeling the effect of the so that they will specious as a as a complete is a legal event in the history perhaps not only only to 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. discuss the situation in egypt further we're now joined live from frankfurt by william and all the author of full spectrum dominance told terry of democracy in the new world order and thanks for being with us now the egyptian foreign minister is telling the us not to interfere in the country's internal affairs how such a close ally turned into the enemy well i think you have to look at the content of relations between washington and cairo since obama became president even before that. mubarak's government realize that the u.s. was preparing a regime change of along the lines of the so-called color revolutions in georgia ukraine orange revolution and so forth. activists to the united states sometimes

receiving them the state department sometimes with the national endowment for democracy or freedom house and these are all the quote unquote private n.g.o.s that specialize in the regime change for washington. and. what's going on is really a major not destabilization of the u.s. ally mobarak has been opposed to most of us policy views of e.u. rather than use of the persian gulf nations and these would be leveled. over the last several years so he's become in effect a phone in the side of washington's greater agenda since two thousand and one. are you saying that mubarak represents an obstacle in the region to the larger u.s. agenda and i understand it correctly. you're understanding correctly if we understand what the larger u.s. agenda is and for that you have to go back to george w. bush's time after september two thousand and one when he proposed to the g.

eight a greater middle east project and the greater middle east project he likened to the economic transfer transformation of russia and the former eastern european economies in the soviet union a major liberalization free market introduction across the. arab world or the northern africa region going and the greater middle east keep in mind wasn't simply the middle east it was a map that went from gibraltar the borders of morocco all the way over to the borders of china tibet and and compassed a swath of land that would simply cut off the oil rich lands of africa and the middle east both from china and also the economic flows to russia so it would be a major geopolitical strategic development and that's that's what we're seeing on the fold now it was put on hold after the us invasion of iraq and afghanistan but

the iraq afghanistan ploys have to be seen as part of this greater middle east project it's a major as a moose said this is a major change historical change in nations if that continues and washington is the driver behind this. with that said what do you think the future holds for us egypt relations. well i think it's unclear at this point what's what's going to come out of this of course the u.s. knows that mubarak is. quite ill that he's in his early eighty's and there's a question of succession but what the face of that succession will be if it will be someone like. the former. head who has made many many rulings that washington found quite friendly to be honest he's known as a critic of u.s. policy but if you look more closely at his record he not only was

a years long teacher in university in the u.s. but he has also as atomic energy have made rulings that simply overlook the international part of the proliferation laws author william and go live from frankfurt thank you very much for your analysis. an urgent investigation has been launched after the russian president personally discovered major security lapses at a railway station in moscow and came when to meet for his visit paid a surprise visit to one of the capital's main stations artie's sara firth now joins us live with the details so this schedule will visit has caused some major red faces today hasn't it. it certainly has yes they start passengers haircare train station stay extremely surprised by the arrival of president medvedev who is carrying out an unplanned check on the security systems at the train station and we know he was extremely pleased with what he found.

doing things with security control other scanners. no there aren't why. oh we've been trying to store them but not succeeded yet. we need to look into this matter very much. now on sunday a number of fake bomb threats according to some of the last days train stations once again ready reiterating the need to have these towns full security measures in place you know in the wake of the double date of a tax that is really being top priority for president medvedev and the chancellor security system to really get these measures in place now here's a company today by the head of the s.f. bay and the interior ministry and we have addressing some of the stuff here and the police really asking them why these measures weren't in place and finding out what needs to be done now to ensure that they are. as to the order i haven't seen

a single policeman at the railway station i understand that there are c.c.t.v. cameras but still what about. their standby duty and railway station holds we've walked around the whole together with the minister but i haven't noticed a single policeman that. obviously is i'm embarrassed the first cells there ad you have a station here in moscow so what has been done in terms of security after the terrorist attack at domodedovo airport. well we've really seen the fake shake up the entire system we had a president. getting some very strong words is it exactly what needs to be done saying the entire system really isn't up to. a lot needs to be done now today he held a meeting at the kremlin with some top officials and we heard him addressing the federal security service saying this is part of their responsibility they really need to be playing their part now to ensure that these measures are put in place.

from now on the federal security service will be responsible for coordinating security measures on transport the railways must be protected exactly the same as ports you must know what your officers are exactly doing at that moment they must not drink tea or walk without any purpose they must do their work. now we've seen a number of high profile firings amongst the federal security chiefs and it's a very very serious what did that we've had an advantage say that if these people who are working in these positions at the moment able to do the job adequately they'll simply find other people to do it against a day that's been the threat of the firings and the message really has been that these measures need to be in place and they need to be continuous it can't just be tightened security for a couple of weeks after a terror attack happens this needs to be something this uncompromising is put in place and stays in place and so as we said the shakeup continuing now with checks

such as these to ensure that this is being done all right sarah ferguson porting live from kiev sky a station where the president stopped by unexpectedly today thanks for that. now remember there's always more news on our web site r t v dot com let's take a look at what's lined up for you right now this might be tempting sight of one hundred twenty thousand dollars a bus driver in russia takes the honest road after finding bags of cash. and customs officers in russia get into hot water after appearing in an amateur or rap video showing the bling side job find out more about these stories and much more at our website r t dot com.

well the way it is experiencing a worrying brain drain with a population plummeting by more than ten percent in the last decade and the impact of the global financial crisis has made the outflow of people even more oppressive . young educated and unemployed the rhenish to choose 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. and my parents and they are living in ireland for a six year solar a day 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 and 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 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 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 pounds 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 the third maybe it was to provide conditions for people to study which now it's really 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 to access them access some sort of people for especially for young people any changes come too late for arena she's already made her move to pastures new and the search for employment in western europe these are all other r.t. the list. and there's no financial news that escapes the prying eyes of our economic expert max kaiser and his co-host stacy herbert and i asked why so global thinking and the kaiser report coming up in just about ten minutes. well look now at some other stories dominating world news today at least six people

have been killed six injured after a small plane crashed at cork airport in the republic of ireland the commuter aircraft overturned and caught fire while trying to land in heavy fog the max two plane had made two previous attempts to land it had been traveling from belfast to northern ireland the accident is the deadliest in irish aviation since one thousand nine hundred sixty eight. a teenage suicide bomber dressed in school uniform has struck at a military facility in northwestern pakistan killing at least thirty soldiers and wounding over forty others the attacker detonated his explosives laden vest 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 few years in the region killing thousands. 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 up to one hundred forty two people were killed as a result of the attack on two fuel tankers which had been hijacked by taliban militants and sparked a political storm in germany claiming the jumps of several military official. you're up to date from the news desk dimitris here next with the business. hello and welcome to business out see a wave of consolidation is sweeping from the world's leading stock exchanges the london stock exchanges to merge with toronto's frank. is planning to link up with the n.y.s.e. as your next here in russia to my six on the r.t.s. also planning tonight now to discuss what this all means i'm joined by david you're from d.c. london david good day to you well this wave of consolidation of thing right now how

is it going to change the way people trade and where companies and. i think it's a realisation that's been brewing for several months if not years and there's a realisation that stock markets are global and the preeminent position that have had in their countries to charge on realistic commissions and membership fees to conduct business or i think a thing of the past you'll recall that three or four years ago. it was then the chief executive officer of the london stock exchange rebuffed all overtures from potential predators which sold the share price to the elysee up from three hundred fifty pence to two thousand pence and then all the way down to five pounds or nothing came on fortunately at that time rather than just creating shareholder value she didn't take london for the rest of the world will bring london will bring the rest of the world should i say to london and that's why yesterday's somewhat

small but i think important announcement of the merger between the london stock exchange and. let me make it the. exchange in the world but there again there is. the fact that both. are very keen on mining stocks and i think as the world goes forward that is a very important issue today's potential announcement of acquisition by the. for the new york. that is hugely significant as it would make them the number one exchange in the world also in europe over derivative trading in equity products which makes them totally preeminence and i think. consolidation. this is the only way forward because the competition from screen based platforms and much cheaper rates commission has actually undermined and also dissolved many of the market share. and they're just beginning to understand the

ramifications we need to remember that the pay. probably comes from twenty five percent of the biggest in the world the investment banks and the very large. among those two london uniting with. next which one would be more attractive do you think for the united. because they might want to take it to the next level and find a big global partner when they. got a theory that's. absolutely right but i think that russia would be. doing the acquiring we don't underestimate russia is a massive country with huge influence in the world. with plenty of money and i think the sense of goodwill that would be seen by russia taking a stake in

a significant stake in a. sea. would be absolutely they're all huge cultural differences at the moment. and differences in corporate governance differences but these are not things that couldn't be. and if as a passive investor in terms of wanting to get involved. a combination of. i think the rest of the doubt. very very positive indeed inevitably whether that happens a lot and i have no reason to suppose that it will if we believe that global uncertainty in this country we don't get nothing else than russia has to play a very significant role of rule you've had many of your i.p.o.'s in london or in hong kong and there's no reason why they can't be on an international basis going forward all right david thank you so much for your commentary that was from b g c partners in london. to move quickly to look at the u.s.

markets are faring at the moment they are lower despite a strong jobs report akamai technologies fell sixteen percent at one point on the nasdaq after the company said competitors are forcing it to offer lower prices for its web streaming services europe the markets are also lower though with the dax is almost completely recovered and that's led by heavyweight banking stocks but at the same time after on scale m. shares that seven point two percent after the airline issued a proof of profits warning and it had said that there was excess capacity on some routes russian stocks ended the session in negative sorry story in third session of losses in a row investors are shifting their assets out of developing countries concerned that inflation will grow over the magic markets some of the stocks energy majors are the main drag a spoil drops to eighty six and a half dollars per barrel protagoras down three percent despite reporting a nine percent growth and profits down another three point six percent.

so we have time for we'll be back in one hour's time headlines are next.