video on demand. among the old. omissions from now with the palm of your. top stories on our perceived political reels in motion prasco ushers in a new era of energy security progress through europe as a landmark north stream pipeline begins pumping russian gas straight to germany and beyond. the new supply route result energy rosy transit countries which had previously lifted european consumers of russian gas notes in the cold without the details in just a few moments. russia issues another stern warning against israeli military action against iran as president dmitri medvedev says it could spell catastrophe for the middle east. and greece politicians scramble to save the country as they in stores

deciding on a new crisis leader r.t. asks what greeks themselves think now fears grow that italy is next in the financial firing line were doubts are piling up and had record borrowing costs. and business this hour joining the world trade organization for russia will need exposure to oil price fluctuations that's the view of which credit rating during leap for more on that and others has a little in front of the. stock and five pm here in the russian capital this is our take is this story day for western europe's energy supply which is now being bolstered by russian gas and directly through a brand new pipeline president dmitri medvedev the chancellor angela merkel and their partners in the project some turns a valve that's open the receiving end of the north stream live in germany attend billion dollar project. it is

a wonder some sea grass roots will work out is daniel bushell was at the scene of the north stream. it will provide long term energy security for europe which had been affected by previous transit rails with the likes of ukraine and belarus it will also fill a shortfall in gas which is projected to reach some hundred million homes by twenty thirty now this is a europe wide project why european leaders are here is because french dutch german companies energy firms have taken stakes in the north stream pipeline that will guarantee supply to homes in those countries for the next fifty years at least the last time of this current project there are plans to send this gas in and then on to the existing european network and to countries like the united kingdom as well as a facilities here russia has always. gone to great lengths to educate fulfilling its obligations in the energy sector and we would still say this is still our most importantly gauge and even at times when the economic situation in russia was

definitely difficult at best we endeavored to continue our gas supplies without interruption to europe and we will continue to do so in the future with or european partners in order to attract investment for the parts of the projects and i'm convinced that such a network involvement will minimize risks along the entire energy supply. you know this should also provide cheaper gas for homes in europe with no transit fees to be paid for the likes of ukraine and belarus with gas going direct for the first time from russia so the e.u. german chancellor angela merkel is optimistic about the future relations between russia and the european union let's have a listen to what she had to say when speaking about security of supply and we also speak about the topic off the rest of the question but we can say that despite all that is diversification russia is one off. at most of the participants most

important for us the supply sources have to be safe. from europe it's also a very guaranteed because we need it for the economic development of our continent this means that for decades to come we will closely because we think each other. it is the longest subsidy pipeline the gas pipeline in the world some engineering brilliance just for one example compressor stations which keep the pressure in gas pipelines usually there are several across the route this one just has has one the beginning of the route it's been closed since the ninety nine construction did start a few years ago the second line will come on stream next year and we've just spoken to some of the heads of the of the project who say that a third line will be discussed by shareholders very shortly because they expect demand for gas to grow and to keep growing even through this crisis the euro crisis

that we're seeing to keep growing through the e.u. in the coming years i'll for more on this and i'll talk to the oil and gas expert in drought over a while he joins us live from all slow in norway this or over one hundred today has been a long time coming how much of a need was there for this project and what difference will it make now i think there was a great need for this project as several incidents of shown over the last three four five six years we need as much diversification as we can of energy in europe and this project helps us to reach that are you how serious were the problems with gas supplies to europe before as you just mentioned those problems. my personal view is that they have been exaggerated in terms of all all european energy supply security but of course for the individual consumers and countries that were directly hit by a cutoff of gas going by ukraine these events were serious and also the symbolic

level in terms of their impact on thinking they were taken very seriously so something needed to be done to follow those events to try to create a slightly more diversified supply framework and north stream is one contribution to that and although it doesn't solve the whole the whole problem a lot of gas still goes to ukraine ukraine is still a player in this game all right well you know throughout the process of this project coming together there were many skeptics who argued it was not possible why were they so against it what were the loudest arguments so to speak now that's a good question why were they so skeptical the main arguments were environmental that laying a pipeline on the seabed would be dangerous in relation to archaeological treasures and place to left over weapons from second world war and so on and so forth and i

think the successful implementation of the project shows with what has always been quite clear is that these. critics critical points arguments didn't have much basis in reality they were driven by some kind of of prejudice or some kind of fear more susceptible to say exactly what probably different motives for different actors police now we see the project has been implemented successfully there haven't been any major problems. and most of the criticism has. already been one of the words the criticism that had been embraced in the past was about of too much dependency will there be still those concerns of too much tendency on russia with regard to energy supplies do you think. i think there will always be voices who will be be critical but i think there's also a maturing understanding of the situation russian gas represents about around six

percent of your be european energy supplies. which is not very dissimilar from imports of coal to the european union some of those imports come from countries in africa so there isn't really that much to worry about at the micro level. smaller level in terms of individual countries which have. limited pipeline capacity and so on there are always a mole's worries are most easily some are solved. by reducing imports from russia which is awfully feasible but rather by building more interconnected more supply routes and so on one stream is one contribution to this area yet really are you mentioned that for the individuals and western europe is a good thing because it would have to worry about disrupted supply but what about when it comes to crisis in consumers at the end of the day they care a lot about price is this a positive development for them as well individuals who are very many

factors that influence the price of gas both economic supply demand and also many poles and factors in the european union. but i think the contribution of north korea in itself will be positive because it reduces the clout of transit countries to some extent which means that they can take a smaller cuts from the overall price so in this sense it's positive and consumers are not only preoccupied about prices they're also worried about. the security of supply and nordstrom again is one contribution to making everybody feel a bit more relaxed about security of supply thanks very much. gas and oil expert talking to us live from moscow and laurie thank you. well there are a president has wanted militarist rhetoric in the middle east and an attack on iran could lead to a catastrophic war in the region to meet him inventive statements came during a joint press conference with his german counterpart russia has been voicing strong

words against an attack on iran following statements by israel that a strike is more likely than diplomacy the u. an atomic naushad is about to report on iran's nuclear activities and provide evidence that iran has built a testing facility and computer models of warheads iran has this missed all allegations calling them a provocation foreign affairs analyst richard henry darrien says the i.a.e.a. report is the science of pressure on iran in order to implement sanctions against. first poll you have to be clear that there is a lot of obfuscation and speculation we do with respect to the content and consequences of this new i. but what i can say is that media is really playing up this i report as a basis for foundation that iran has really moving towards weaponization of nuclear program therefore more sanctions and possibly confrontation with iran but if you look at the statements by former i harbored these hainan mr hainan and i think

they're reporting not come up with any kind of definitive evidence or any kind of smoking gun that will prove consequential in all of that iran has really been gauging the cable for any kind of musician program i think we should look at the new reports like both efforts to impose new sanctions or further sanctions against iran and how. politicized by western powers. to adopt a more confrontational approach i think that's a bigger picture that you have to look at your reports so. well israel flexes its political muscle over iran the jewish state is hit by a recruitment crisis and as a report leader this hour a young israelis are increasingly unwilling to sign up for military service for their country. ministers have offered their resignations of pave the way for a new government this comes as the country's leaders struggle to agree on a new prime minister talks over a unity coalition enter their second day george proper drea will stand down as

prime minister once his replacement is announce the interim government will lead the country until elections are expected to be held in february greece is under pressure to ratify a one hundred thirty billion euro emergency rescue package and its political crisis that's put the entire e.u. result in jeopardy our correspondent sara for it's been asking greeks for their take on the situation and the prospects for there and rattled country. i think crisis rumbles on greece's once again found itself the focus of international attention and it seems like everyone's had an opinion about the situation here in the country we decided to come. which is really to me epicenter it's so much of this year a crisis if the find out all the people of greece have to say about it all. so he says at the camera and the mike. to. let the people of take it away alone we are. well. all the people.

are saying. everything is made. actually it's like they're trying to frighten are sure something like that my name's vicky. needy and i've been living in greece for ten years now my grandfather fought for this country and it saddens me that. right now there's a chance you might lose everything that we know in this country and. there's really not much we can do and i want to ask something. if all the european snow but both these dead cannot be dead but. why do they lend his money to us don't they want the money but the thing with the situation right now it is that we don't feel real secure about anything but our salaries our health and you know in my aids thing about the tumor i'm going to make and of the seasons i have to do from then from

now it's really sad because. everybody here things that you know the things could be better there's something more than this there's something more there there are great because there is a lot of fun employment in greece now. that the people increase out of very skeptical about the euro i think ok there it's better we are in the euro. of course definitely but. there are some serious problems. because a lot of people they lost their jobs you don't know what. you can you can prolong your life twenty years old and i don't have a job. i have to leave with my parents i don't have money i can leave i help for everybody to be calm and. try to get out of the crisis and i really hope everybody can help us to brewskis

a european country in greece and euro is a good work a great work i hope something can be done so we can save this beautiful country and be able to pass it on to our grandchildren and the children after that he resisted it's up to the mike and had a chance to have a say a question now is whether anyone's going to be ready to listen to them whether decisions again to keep being made behind plays those. things had miscarried or. not entirely. the prime minister's main coalition partner has urged him to step aside ahead of a crucial budget fraud concerns are growing that italy is on its way to becoming the next victim of europe's financial crisis with debts piling up and in record corporate costs italian current affairs columnist francesco c. she says the crisis in italy is more political and economic financially in

italy was not. that bad a situation is in italy has not washed in dramatically in the past months in fact for instance in greek banks are already a lot of money to french and german banks italian exposure to greece was very limited however the markets didn't trust the italian government is a crucial issue and when the markets started not to trust the government and government didn't come up with a real strong measures. we will see what will come out with these political crises i think really is a little bit different than from greece i mean the situation in italy is more a political crisis then their financial crisis and everything you know way hinges on the opposition claims that he will surely be defeated he claims he will not be defeated in security counties a huge day for italy needs

a prime minister who king gave the confidence of the markets that markets trust to start the recovery and change necessary for the chile to call with the present crisis. and coming up in the program if you haven't yet considered a trip to russia's north caucasus you soon might report how the region is not attracting thousands of tourists in the strong p.r. campaign. not a time when israel is threatening iran with military action or a confidence in the strength of the jewish state's army is crucial but every year less and less israelis are signing up to the armed forces choosing instead to defend themselves rather than their country archies told us the reports on why the young generation it's turning its back on military service. for years it's been a cornerstone of the country's security at these days there's a real risk the israeli defense forces could be left defenseless conscription is at an all time low what fifty percent of recently jewish males who.

serve in the military what about qana spent most of the year and a half he was in the army trying to convince his superiors to release him on medical grounds they eventually did but only after he wasted months searching around he says doing nothing while in uniform get drafted for a. because of this feeling that i would be a parasite if i wouldn't and a couple months later i realized that i just been reporting longer and what's called israel defense forces which has nothing to do with the fence other than my name and a growing number of israelis agree with him friedman made sure she scored low on her army in france tests so instead of serving as a soldier she's now doing civil service working as an art instructor in a center for the mentally disabled i have a lot of fans in the army and they saw. how they were when they first came to them in how they are now and it's brainwashing actually and they just beat you

down from your identity and make you basically a soldier ten years ago they refused movement started in israel youngsters refusing to serve in the army on political grounds add to that the nearly fifty percent of potential draftees who don't serve because of religious reasons and a recent series of scandals also for public trust in the military decline stated that it's about the state so to say that this video posted on you tube says a true israeli doesn't even read the truth in other words a true israeli avoids conscription fifteen or twenty years ago and average like this would have been unthinkable in those days not serving in the army was something shameful but now young. does have role models like actively in order to copy those former girlfriend israeli model bar refaeli who evaded service and gave it to just. relations of human rights or regard by israel absolute

disrespect of international law it's crystal clear there's no question about that study showed that by twenty twenty the number of military age jewish israelis who will not be serving will be the highest ever growing train has the military worried it won't have all the tricks it needs especially now as the region heats up and the army needs all the soldiers it can get poised to be on team television. more world news for you this hour and to india now where at least twenty people have been killed and dozens injured after a stampede broke out during a religious ceremony in the north of the country the incident happened when tens of thousands of hindu pilgrims rushed towards the holy sites offer their prayers some of them tripped and fell while those behind continued to push forward many women and children are reported to be among the dead and injured me some pains are common in india last january more than one hundred people died on route to.

syria's opposition has reportedly appealed for international presence in the central city of homs where activists say at least eleven people were killed on monday this comes after damascus accused the u.s. of being involved in the drivers and as the arab league for support on the issue of claims that these three thousand five hundred people have been killed in the crackdown government protests started in the. michael jackson's doctor conrad murray has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in an l.a. court he was found guilty of administering a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol which killed jackson in two thousand and nine murray could receive a maximum prison sentence of four years and released his medical license the jury two days to reach its decision. after many rushes caucasus has been synonymous with violence for years its biggest battle now is convincing people that times are changing for the better and charging tourists is a key goal of the luxury ski resorts among the developments taking shape with

either questionable reports that p.r. is paying off. i these glamorous and extravaganza shows are the modern face of the caucasus where an ancient tradition survived for attention with the razzmatazz of twenty first century life and for many started hand with the beautiful game not only ago local football club biggest county and she was barely known outside the region now it regularly makes international headlines with his doubles on the global transfer market. and i'm starting from scratch i've always heard his possible europe as a player but here it is starting new because of a player budget problems before and he told me a lot about russian football and i do it for the joining the g eight the words of the camera man star striker and more importantly the record price they were prepared to pay made the local team one of the most ambitious clubs and the world

and a mission is almost everything and the caucasus discovered a round of opportunities it's fine if the world calls alpine sports results the new we're out of the northern caucasus is coming. and there are actually more than a dozen ski resorts hamp all currently stand empty and the states now aiming to turn that around france has already signed up to the project with one important condition of the trasher guarantees the repayment of funds if this is the situation voicings or if there is a major incident the first brand in new how those of you to resit for the upcoming ski season so there's not much time left to bruce people's confidence in the safety of a holiday in the caucasus and that sense of a much harder task than girls think why start accommodation. indeed terrorism and to terror writes an armed attacks are often the first things that come to mind when you think of the caucasus because that's no loosely what we hear and believed. but

real life is. as always much more complicated there is another side to living down hand that's barely even heard of beyond the region but which is well worth making the effort to destroy you i never thought it would be mostly insurgent sure as old as time what happened in some kind of miracle i can't believe my eyes and it's not just soaring skyscrapers and business interests popping up ham celebrities have been ten and while some like actress hilary swank may have been forced to explain her visit disallows only helped for the rich and on the front pages the p.r. machine and spinning and full speed because where the stars go the cameras follow my you know which no artsy reporting from the north caucasus all right it's time now for business with kareena. hello welcome to our business both of us all thanks for joining me as we've been

reporting russia has started pumping gas to europe through the newly built nord stream pipeline here with me excuse me for from troika dialogue good to see you chris so how will those two change the relationship between russia and other european countries that are not sort of members of the club i think it's because germany even more so recently is quite evidently the de facto leader in the european union a strong relationship between russia and germany i think is is good for europe as a whole so i would say you know the fact that the pipeline you know controversy bypass poland baltic countries i don't see that as making any sort of economic or political statement and russia absolutely wants to build its relationship with germany it's quite clear and i think that strong relationship would be good for all the countries are in in europe is there demand for so much gas to justify north stream what about south stream well give you know this is there of course the big question mark over the whole energy sector years ago with projections certainly

cold for you know multiple pipelines into the european union or projections to europe we need to import you know one hundred to one hundred fifty billion cubic meters of gas an additional over the next ten years but since then we've had shale gas. we've had more gas perhaps becoming available from places like turkmenistan and maybe you know quite soon from from iraq could available for europe but balanced against that of course and as a result of the nuclear accidents in japan and germany you know fairly clear statements that it's a piece going to suspend the program and review it then i think through the issues still very emotional analysis yeah there's a lot of not sort of there's a lot of uncertainty you think of the gas market i think what russia has done with this pipeline is to make sure that it's strong position is the gas is energy supplier to germany to europe remains intact and this is why the push to have this pipe. let me ask you this question there is much concern is there much concern about this europe's third package that actually says it prohibits for

a gas producer from also knowing means that the supply. in this respect yes potentially obviously the something's got to change your prime minister putin is already on record as saying that it's going to be liking to gazprom monopoly position as exporter of gas to europe will change i would certainly expect to see a second license and maybe now with north stream a place that is the opportunity for russia to give a second or third even third export license you know in the next few months this is what the prime minister said so i think this we can certainly see that there is some if you like accommodation of both sides that it's not you know very rigid you know issue that starts in any way a deal breaker between this improving relationship between russia and europe i think you know we can definitely expect to see some compromises on both sides russia has already indicated that the monopoly you know this is something that can be and will certainly will or very likely will be broken and i would expect to see

that compromise basically on both sides of the words i don't see this issue. becoming in any way an obstacle to be approving nations russia and europe russia and germany in particular and just a short what about shale gas is it still is europe still in enthusiastic about having show gas it was just talk no enthusiastic maybe less so than we are aware of there of the more technical issues that are being brought up environmental issues the whole sort of cost side of things is now better understood and that's certainly slowed down the program so i think what you can say is look there will be more alternative diversification in energy in europe shale gas will have a role in europe will import more l.n.g. from places like atar and elsewhere and possibly we will see some pipelines coming out of central asia or iraq into europe so there will be more diverse occasion but i think what russia has done with. north stream and i think we're seeing the same thing with south stream it is in a hurry to make sure that its infrastructure is in place so that at least its

market share if you like in terms of volume is protected or it has a strong competitive advantage and then it will be about the price so how quickly show gas and other energies become available as competition that will determine the price at which the gas is sold to europe but what rush has made very clear and has moved on is to ensure that its at least its volume position its market share is protected and i think this is why we're seeing also this political momentum a very strong momentum principle and to ensure that south stream is also bills ok thank you very much that's all we have time for and join me in fifteen minutes for more thought.