exposure to oil price fluctuations that's the view of such quite a way for joining me for more on that. sacrifice pm here in the russian capital this is our take its historic day for western europe's energy supply which is now being bolstered by russian gas directly through a brand new pipeline president dmitri medvedev chancellor angela merkel and their partners in the projects have turned the valve us open the receiving end of the north stream vine in germany the ten billion dollar project is the longest some c gas routes in the world. was half 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 one 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 they're all plans to send this gas in and then on to the existing european countries like the united kingdom as well is that. russia has always. gone to great lengths to fulfilling its obligations in the energy sector and we would still say this is still our most important obligation even at times the economic situation in russia was definitely difficult because we endeavored to continue supplies without interruption to europe and we will continue to do so in the future with our european partners in all. to attract investment for

the parts of the project and i am convinced that such a networked involvement will minimize risks along the entire energy supply. 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 to 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 then we also speak about the topic of diversification but we can say that despite all that is diversification russia is one of the most of the part of the five most important for us the surprise thought is have to be safe and the demand from europe is also a very guaranteed one because we need it for the economic development of our

continent this means that far decades to come we will closely be closely linked to each other. it is the longest subsidy pipeline the gas pipeline in the world it took some engineering brilliance just for one example compress the 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 has been planned since the nine hundred ninety s. 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 debt crisis that we're seeing to keep growing through the e.u. in the coming years. well for more on this we can now talk to oil and gas expert in drought over land he joins us live from all slow in norway this or overland 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 you know 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 the countries that were directly hit by a cutoff of gas going by ukraine these events were serious and also at a 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 nordstrom is one contribution to

that although it doesn't solve the whole the whole problem a lot of gas still goes through ukraine ukraine is still a player in this game all right well you know the throughout the process of this project coming together there were many skeptics and who argued that it was not possible why were they so against it what were the loudest arguments so-to speak. now that's a very 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 treasure and place to leftover weapons from second world war and so on and so forth and i think the successful implementation of the project shows that what has always been quite clear is that these. cryptic critical standpoints arguments didn't have much basis in reality they were driven by some kind of of prejudice or some

kind of alter multiple difficult to say exactly what's probably different motives for different actors at least now we see the project has been implemented successfully there haven't been any major problems. and most of the criticism has gone silent all right that one of the words criticism that had been embraced in the past was that of too much dependency will there be still those concerns too much dependency on russia with regard to energy supplies 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 macro level at

a smaller level in terms of individual countries which have a 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 yeah earlier you mentioned that for the individuals in europe this is a good thing because they wouldn't have to worry about disrupted supply but what about when it comes to price i mean consumers at the end of the day they care a lot about price is this a positive development for them as well individuals. there are very many factors that influence the price of gas both economic supply demand and also many policy factors in the european union. but i think the contribution of more soon in itself will be positive because it reduces the clout of transit countries to some extent which means that they can take less

a smaller cut from the overall price so in this sense it's positive and consumers are not only preoccupied about price they're also worried about. security of supply . again is one contribution to making everybody feel a bit more relaxed about security of supply thanks very much for that that was in drought over land gas and oil expert talking to us live from norway thank you. and there are president wanted militarist rhetoric in the middle east and that tack on iran could lead to a catastrophic war in the region venom statements came during a joint press conference with his german counterpart russia has been voicing strong force against an attack on iran following statements by israel that a strike is more likely than diplomacy the u.n. atomic is about to report on iran's nuclear activities and provide evidence that has built a testing facility and computer models of warheads iran has dismissed all allegations

calling them a fabricated foreign affairs analyst. says the i.a.e.a. report is designed to put pressure on iran in order to implement sanctions against . first of all you have to be clear there is a lot of obfuscation and speculation that the. consequences of this new i. media is really playing up this search. that iran 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. think. but.

i think that's a bigger picture that we have to look beyond. well israel flexes its political muscle over iran the jewish state is hit by a recruitment crisis and as we report later this hour young israelis are increasingly unwilling to sign up for military service for their country. and ministers have offered their resignation to 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 papa drea will stand down as prime minister once his replacement is announce the interim government will leave the country until elections are expected to be held in february well greece is under pressure to ratify a one hundred thirty billion euro emergency rescue package and its political crisis that's put the entire euro zone in jeopardy our correspondent sara for it's been

asking greeks for their take on the situation and the prospects for there and battled country. in crisis rumbles on greece is once again 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 be me out but it's very much of this year the find out what the people of greece have to say about it all. to. let the people of greece take it away. alone we are. well. all the people. everything is ready. it's like they're trying to frighten us or something like hi my name is 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 else. if all the european snow but bowles is dead cannot be paid but. why do they lend his money plus don't they want the money but the thing with the situation right now in greece is that we don't feel real secure about anything but our salaries our health and you know in my aids thing about the timber i'm going to make and then the season so i have to do it from then from now it's really sad because. everybody here things that you know the things could be better there are something more than that there's something more there there are great because there is

a lot of fun employment in greece now. that the people in greece out a very skeptical about the euro i think. it's better we are in euro. of course definitely but there are still some serious problems. because a lot of people lost they lost their jobs you don't know what. you can do you can plan your life i'm 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 hope for everybody to be calm and. try to get out of the crisis and i really hope everybody can help us to do that is a european country and greece and euro is a greek word a greek word 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 the people

of greece the steps up to the mike and had a chance to have a say the question now is whether anyone is going to be ready to listen to them whether decisions again to keep being made behind closed surf. syntagma square and. now the italian prime minister's main coalition partner has urged him to step aside ahead of a crucial budget foad concerns are growing that italy is on its way to becoming the next victim of europe's financial crisis with debts piling up amid record burrard 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 war syndrome magically in the past months in fact for instance in greek banks all the lot of money to frank and german banks italian exposure to greece was very limited however the markets didn't trust the italian

governments this is the crucial issue and when the markets started not to trust the government to tell and government didn't come up with a real strong measures that we will see what will come out with this political crisis i think really is a little bit different than from greece i mean this situation in italy is more a political crisis than 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 the security can present huge day italy needs a prime minister who can get the confidence of the markets whom the markets trust to start to do recovery and change necessary for the telly to cope with the present crisis. and coming up in the program if you haven't yet consider the trip to russia

caucus is a might report on how the region is not attracting thousands of tourists following a strong p.r. campaign. and at a time when israel is threatening iran with military action and 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 are reports on why the young generation it's turning its back on military service. for years it's been the cornerstone of the country's security but these days there's a real risk these rady defense forces could be left defenseless conscription is at an all time low about fifty percent of. jewish males. serve in the military. spend 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'd wasted months searching

around he says doing nothing while in uniform after the four. because of this feeling that i would be sorry if i would and. later i realized that i just couldn't play. with difference other than my name and a growing number of israelis agree with him mr friedman made sure she scored low on her army entrance tests so instead of serving as a soldier she's not doing civil service working as an art instructor in a center for the mentally disabled i have our friends 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 keep you down from your identity and make you a basically a soldier ten years ago the refusenik movement started in israel youngsters refusing to serve in the army on political grounds add to that the nearly fifteen

percent of potential draftees who don't serve because of religious reasons and a recent series of scandals also so public trust in the military decline state it's about to start. to see that this video posted on you tube says a true israeli doesn't evade the truth in other words a true israeli avoids conscription fifteen or twenty years ago an advert 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 activia nodded to former girlfriend israeli model barbara fady who evaded service and gave it. relations human rights. this respect. it's crystal clear there's no question 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 trend has the military why we did it won't have it needs especially

now as the region heats up and the army needs all the soldiers it can get. more world news for you this hour and to india now or 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 site to 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 then 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 accuse the u.s. of being involved in the violence and as the arab league for support on the issue

the un it claims that these three thousand five hundred people have been killed in the crackdown since at the government protests started in march. 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 or four years and lose his medical license the jury took two days to reach its decision. and for many russia's caucasus has been synonymous with violence for years its biggest battle now is convincing people that times are changing for the better attracting tourists is a key goal of the luxury ski resorts among the developments taking shape with a question of reports the p.r. is paying off. these glamorous and extravaganza shows are the morgan face of the caucasus where anxious traditions survive for attention with the razzmatazz of twenty first

century life and for many started hand with the beautiful game not long ago local football club biggest county and she was barely known outside the region now which regularly makes international headlines with instead bulls on the global transfer market. just ahead i'm starting from scratch i want all the trophies possible and europe as a player starting new because i've played a bridge across before and he told me a lot about russian football and i do look forward to joining the team 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 comps in the world and a mission is almost everything and the caucasus discovered a land of opportunity it's fine for the world calls alcohol and sports results the new whereas the northern caucasus is is coming. and there are actually more than

a dozen ski resorts hamp but 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 trash a guarantees that the repayment of funds if the security situation worsens or if there is a major incident the first ground in knew how it's also due to resit for the upcoming ski season so there's not much time left to boost people's confidence in the safety of a holiday in the caucasus and that sense of a much harder task than building five star accommodation. indeed terrorism anti terror raids and armed attacks are often the first things that come to mind when you think of the caucasus because that's mostly what we in the least. bit realize 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 discover you i never thought he would we've lost in such

a short as august 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 and celebrities have vented and while some like actress hilary swank may have been forced to explain her visit disallows only helped put the region on the front pages the p.r. machine and spinning and full speed because where the stars go the cameras follow my do not push no artsy reporting from the north caucasus all right it's time now for business with kareena. hello welcome to our business thanks for joining me as we've been reporting russia has started pumping gas to europe through the new we built north stream pipeline here with me exclusively for from twice a dialogue good to see it chris so how laws change the relationship between russia and 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 controversy bypassed pole in the baltic countries i don't see that as making any sort of economic or political statement i think russia absolutely wants to build its relationship with germany that'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 and what about south stream well give you know this is their course a big question mark over the whole energy sector years ago the projections certainly cold far you know multiple pipelines into the european union or projections that europe would need to import you know one hundred to one hundred fifty billion cubic meters of gas in addition of over the next ten years but since then we've had shale gas. we've had more gas perhaps becoming available in from

places like turkmenistan and may be you know quite soon from from iraq could vailable for europe but balanced against that of course and as a result of the nuclear accidents in japan and germany you know very clear statement of it's at least going to suspend a program and review it then i think the issue still very emotional and i was yeah there's a lot of there's a lot of uncertainty i think in the gas market i think what russia has done with this pipeline is to make sure that it's strong position is a gas energy supplier to germany to europe remains intact in the dust why they pushed ahead with this. 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 going means that some of the supply. in this respect yes potentially obviously the something's got to change prime minister putin is already on record as saying to that square he likely to gazprom monopoly position as

exporter of gas to europe will change we could certainly expect to see a second license and maybe now with north stream in place that is the opportunity for russia to give a second even third export license you know in the next few months this is what the prime minister said so i think there's we can certainly see that there is some if you like accommodation on both side steps it's not you know very rigid you know issue to its to its 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 these is something that can be and will certainly will very likely will be will be broken and i would expect to see that compromise on both sides of the words i don't see the this this issue. becoming in any way an obstacle to be approving the 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 shell gas or is just talk no enthusiastic maybe less so than they are aware of their ups 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 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 guitar 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. 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 protectors are strong competitive advantage and then it will be about the price so how quickly shell gas and other energies become available as competition that will determine the price at which the gas is sold to europe but what russia's made clear it. moved on is to ensure that

its at least its volume position its market share is protect its own well i think this is why we're seeing also this political momentum a very strong woman to lead by president putin to ensure that south stream is also ok thank you very much that's all we have time for and join me in fifteen minutes for more.

welcome back this is our live from moscow now here at the top stories today putting the wheels in motion moscow ushers in a new era of energy security for western europe as a landmark more stream pipeline begins pumping russian gas straight to germany and beyond the new supply rules out energy roust with transit countries which had previously left european consumers of russian gas called. russia issues and other stern warning. against israeli military action against iran as president and. for the middle east the u.n. atomic watchdog is about to release a report on nuclear activities. scramble to save the country as they inch towards deciding on a new crisis leader r.t. had sort of streets of athens to find out what greeks them so.