government security forces in today's iraqi journalists who speak out or to me in prison just simply kill seems to be a high level of intolerance or dissent or for public criticism of either government policies or particular leaders to me a freelance journalist should r.t. some shocking youtube footage from the protests this february that explicitly show iraqi security forces targeting him because he's a journalist. he shouts which is arabic for journalist over and over again but it makes the police more violent three or four maybe five right police were around me one of them slapped me in the had other one kicked me in the. drive me fast yousif managed to escape arrest thanks to two foreign journalists who intervened but since the arrest of one of his colleagues he

stopped covering protests altogether became hard for journalists for example to go to i myself i don't go there or stop them there a long time ago not because. i'm not that scared to be arrested. you know i'm worried to be mistreated we tried to speak to journalists who've been arrested in baghdad but everyone was too afraid to appear on camera so we came up here to the more peaceful kurdish region to see if the situation was any different here i met ahmed a young photographer who was arrested while covering similar protests in the kurdish region but after the interview he called to tell me he was scared of reprisals from the government and asked to blur his face and change his name after his arrest in april he was imprisoned for four days and tortured. six men came to the room and started to shout at me and beat me with cables then they gave me electric shocks they wanted me to admit that i hadn't been at the protest. when he

was finally released after four days a friend took pictures of his wounds and published them in a local magazine immediately ahmed was rearrested as a punishment for publicizing his initial arrest. came and they held me for three days and made me sign a document declaring that i would not talk to the press again back in baghdad the government spokesman admitted to r.t. that individuals in the iraqi government were indeed using their powers to silence the press noticed that people been. using there but this is again is not protected by the government the government is against it and i think and you can see that there are people in the minister of interior for example they have misusing their power against the citizen and there is this building that is they keep accountable and some of them has been fired almost nine years after the invasion u.s. troops are home but one of the country they're leaving behind. with politicians using the security forces to silence journalists it appears that iraq lacks any

credible press freedom freedom that is essential to any democratic country sebastian meyer or iraq but on our website we're asking what you think will happen to iraq now that u.s. forces have left there's a split right now between a battle you see the country slipping into total chaos equal number think things can get a new round tell us iraq is working through the government that's known to be in their own. rest believe iraq into a western style democracy log on to r.t. dot com and add your voice. a suicide bombing that killed at least twenty five people in the syrian capital has heightened tensions between the government and the opposition attack apparently targeted a police bus most of the casualties said to have been civilians it comes as arab league monitors who are assessing violence in the country to get their first report this weekend antigovernment protesters rallied after the blast i mean the syrian

government for the products international intervention jordan based political analyst. says the bombing is a sign the armed opposition is actively trying to destabilize the country. from the start the demonstrations were not truly peaceful but there were many incidents of. perpetrating crimes against the army against the security forces against the civilians and of course there were denying it the so-called opposition denying it for a long time but now everything has become clear these terrorist acts these shameful terrorist acts are a clear indication that there are gangs and there are terrorists working in syria to disrupt life in syria they're not aiming the aggression only against their regime but against the whole syrian people. syrian obviously what we are witnessing in in syria is not a revolution but actually it is

a very ugly conflict to dismantle not only the syrian regime but to change the whole area it has nothing to do with democracy and freedom and that there are certain forces international forces and local forces as well which are actually trying to change the situation in the area of political reasons. respective of the costs that will actually be imposed on the syrian people and on the whole area. well still ahead the man who brings hollywood to moscow to begin there can bring stars and students to russia today's crossfire explains how he's succeeding but i think. back to. the big economy what should they be doing. with more money and. pumping more money they've been pumping millions and billions in trillions and done a good. restaurant is in new york to last how people would go about fixing the

stuff and global economy. orthodox christians worldwide are celebrating christmas with the fall of the julian calendar and so celebrate the birth of christ thirteen days off the western worship as it's also marks the end of a forty day fast round two hundred million people from the eastern tradition of worship in one of the oldest christian countries georgian wash. day with midnight mass. carried branches to be burned as part of their christmas ritual the fans are believed to warm the community and remove from the just intolerance parties piece all of that was happening not mass at the christ the savior cathedral . all the christians celebrating christmas eve here in russia ushered in with a traditional service here at the christ the say because in the center of the russian capital now that service presided over by the patriarch of moscow. it's all

of the russian orthodox church attended by the great new good the dignitaries old russian society president dmitri. as well as see me a pig is attending this church service around five thousand people in total crammed into the christ the savior cathedral more of them actually taking places around the outskirts of the cathedral to just try and get a view of the church hopefully she'll hear something what was going on in. to hear the bells that had been ringing out to celebrate the birth of jesus christ now. question it always comes up is why is christmas being celebrated in january this is due to the fact that the russian orthodox church as well as some of the branches all the docs christianity. as opposed to the calendar used by western christianity which means in russia as well as other countries christmas

falls on the seventh of january huge day in the old calendar something that has become a real tradition here in russia opening in one thousand nine hundred seven the traditional christmas. christ the savior. continues online. christmas celebrations here in russia. you can see the full christmas. also online. has details on. the details.

on the foreigners who were successfully pioneering business in russia today. used to be a restaurateur and deciding one day to leave it all behind he's now hollywood's man in russia has already brought scores of actors and bands to the country. i basically ended up moving to russia all by accident in one thousand and ninety eight i was asked by a russian friend in los angeles if i could bring a hollywood studio to moscow because mayor luzhkov was interested in building multiplex cinemas and wanted a hollywood studio partner i had friends that were running warner brothers they sent head of international theatres with me. my first trip was very impressionable i couldn't understand how so many young people i was meeting were making tens of

millions of dollars a year and some of them millionaires before they were thirty and these were some of the things that made me realize there's a lot of opportunity here there's not a lot of people who are doing hollywood business there hasn't been a lot of contact and interaction with celebrities i love a challenge what could be more challenging than moving to russia and trying to develop and create a business here for us with the real i didn't know any answers but i started meeting them just to bring them to russia or can that project the russian comedy that's going to shoot in america steven seagal zola he told me they'll do it in a couple days for two hundred fifty thousand dollars well kilmer's interested in helping out. then the wealthy russians started asking for other people and i just started calling everybody i knew in l.a. who knew a producer a new a director and i called them from russia after eight years i brought over eighty actors and bands to russia i think it's very important for you to go to los angeles

with me in the next few months we should meet with you hopefully make your releasing a different actors you would like to do cameos in this film the biggest challenge to overcome is gaining people's trust and performing one. please recently i was asked to bring john claude van damme to chechnya for the president's birthday and day of the city and. yet of live music of the i want to go through all of it in my heart. it's a place most people are very afraid to go to of course john clyde you know his expenses need to be paid and others for him to go there and it's very frightening dealing and working with chechnyan friends knowing that if something went wrong didn't come and money is paid. who are people going to come calling and looking for asking for the money back and it took a long time for me to win people's confidence that they would send money to an

actor or a band in advance russia costs more than a lot of other parts of the world because russians have been willing to pay more you know if russians weren't willing to pay more celebrities would be coming for less but when they have people making such big offers just to get them how can you refuse so russia's been great to help push up their prices jennifer lopez gets two million dollars to go and perform you know in russia and kazakhstan and some other places if you're american in the u.s. we understand our system how to set up a business where we can easily research any product or any idea we have to find out if it's been saturated or not in russia it's really different because it's so hard to get to the important people that make the decisions when i have to work with a person who works for someone here i get nowhere i can't do a deal because they need to see so much because their jobs on the line their names

on the line they're so afraid that just drags on and drags on whatever i'm talking to them about when you can pick up the phone and call the head of the company or someone on the board of directors i know in a week if i can do this deal or not with them rush is just. much more individual life you really need to know some important people here to have success you know i was thinking mirror mirror which is part of the reason i never learned russian is i just thought ok one year from now i'm sure something will come up back in the l.a. in the u.s. i'll go back i'll start doing movies but it is so exciting here every day and so many new things and new deals and new opportunities and that i haven't been able to leave. well from making money losing it now as we ask whether it's time to let the public take over the troubles in oftenest meets people in new york to get tips for the

politicians in charge. today everyone's upset with how the world leaders are handling the economy so how would you fix that this week let's talk about that country do you think is doing a good job. let me say. you know now. what would you do to fix the problem in greece. in greece wow. i don't know. because i know no no no maybe that's why it's going over on a good word. person. working hard and spending money to local community. you know our way of part of building up each. country. yeah isn't it time maybe for the government to stop trying to fix it and let people and

companies fix their own wallets i think. the fix the economy what should they be doing. pumping more money they've been pumping millions and billions in trillions and done a good so why is that the solution that we keep going back to the only thing we can do so we can also see just do nothing and let people sort it out themselves to people. not a matter of not throwing money into the economy it's a matter of living with. means if you don't have enough revenue then you have to cut spending yes so governments are trillions of dollars in debt so it sounds like they have no money right they have to obviously you can't stop everything all at once but you do have to you do have to pull back and you have to come up with a reasonable plan. we don't just keep printing money we don't keep inflating government and most of the european countries are having trouble because the government is sixty percent larger than it should be so why why did you and i see

business and government leaders. can't because we don't get paid by the people that are behind the scenes and since i'm not ready for a campaign campaign contributions by people that need my help to american politicians are just. really so what should they be doing better. other probably trying to change its economy from an oil economy to something else we've got heaps of people with lots of brains and we need to be doing something about the environment does people with brains are in positions of power. so it seems like with the system that's currently in place for how world leaders get elected it might be time for solutions to come from someplace else. prepares to open up a political office in qatar the u.s. has indicated it's ready to back the initiative it's seen as

a crucial step towards peace talks between nato and its longtime enemy the time about also wants high ranking taliban prisoners to be freed from going ton of the day. to contribute. but he leaves the move could signal a major american defeat a decade long conflict. uncle sam has just recently authorizes the opening up the official office for the taliban in doha qatar for. the opening of detail about an office doesn't bode well because he effectively has been cut from this wheeling and dealing between americans and taliban on the other side americans it looks like a real elopes a deal it looks like they have accepted demands by the taliban that is to keep cut as a government out of the loop and as for telamon themselves they look like one and only

winners in this shadow negotiation gate and that tell about open out their office in doha they might as well door in it with the two name plates with the calls from the counterinsurgency doctrine the first if we are not winning we are losing at dressed for the us armed forces and second if we are not losing we are winning for the taliban themselves but look at some of the mains from around the world now and first a tragedy in new zealand where a hothead by the burst into flames after hitting power lines killing innocent people two of them seem died had jumped out of the basket in desperation plummeted to the ground. deadliest. mass crowds have gathered in yemen's capital as suspicions grow that present son with again when they got his agreement to quit the testers also want the release of all political prisoners held since the protests began

a year ago position leaders for sunday will use the country's own rest to stay in power despite signing a regional deal to hand control to his vice president in exchange for legal immunity. outspoken human rights activist in bahrain has been hospitalized what his lawyer said was a brutal police beating and to protest a bill incidentally hit on the head and face with sticks on officers the government says police found him injured while participating on the authorized march bahrain's shia majority began campaigning for more rights from the sunni in a year ago. it's hard to bring you more of russia close up as we continue to explore the countries far east. yes they have region lies on the chinese border and this russia's main gateway to

the pacific is also a center of coal and wood exports to the heavily populated few hundred asian economies as artie's dumbarton discovered keeping industry alive doesn't have to be expensive tradition. the hub our ask region russia's far east is becoming a growing center for export to the hungry economies in the south china south korea and japan increasing material exports of warden coal are going out to the pacific and south and is that they were looking at in my report. this monster called coal stacker is the new face of russia's far east coast it can load over four thousand tons of coal an hour into ships at this rapidly expanding sea terminal this year they exported ten million tons of the stuff almost exclusively south asian markets but also aboard we've noticed there's

a coal boom of coal consumption worldwide has increased so this port covers almost all of asia. become comes from some of russia's largest deposits five hundred monitors in them and he joins the oil and flowing out of the region in ever greater quantities tug boats maneuver the ships into place through storms and the winter cold little new year's crop on when the bay freezes we know we're well equipped to break it sometimes there's difficulties with some patches but when essential to help these huge ships dark and undock all year round. and even the most modern tankers once on their way helped along by a much older technology. and this vast you ship internals of springing up to supply overseas markets will all see very foundations presented by this life past which moment for help makes a russia's gateway to the pacific hundreds of lighthouses dot the coast all the way

from the border with north korea up to the arctic. victor has been manning his lighthouse for over thirty years but he's glad he's not too far out into the wilderness morris because we're close enough to the nearest town that other lighthouse keepers are stuck out in the tiger without even roads sometimes a ship or helicopter deliver supplies there's no other way to come or go big has not had a ship run aground since the early one nine hundred ninety s. he's seen bears moose and tigers visit his lighthouse and ses he never grows bored of the ever changing seascape far from feeling lonely he talks of the remand to system of being such a secluded spot on the coastline you know i used to go down to the bay for i am catching crabs and start a fire then my wife and kids will join me and we'd have breakfast on the shore and watch the sunrise in the summer this whole field would be bright orange and blue if

you can pick to retire next year he says he's come to love the spotlight robinson crusoe xylem and and while he can remember the pristine beauty of his coastline others are seeing it sail on into the future. with his talk a little bit more about for boston the experience of moving here from abroad is the main a holiday that came here from britain so i've asked itself is trying to upgrade itself trying to move into the well to the city in time for the modern and modern industry but also. new cosmodrome what do you know about the new developments i know that isn't very very important to the local area and is proving transporting all the time to the fine investing far east which is obviously going to a very good economy and i'm here because my fiance is working there and will refinery and their unions and more investment there and this president is going to i think only improve it says that it was one of the biggest and most important

projects is happening in russia and then said yes think it's up and coming this alludes to region. as someone who's come from a different culture side what would you say the people who are thinking. it is possible business gigi's but should i come what would you say. to the church how did during your russian with this important very few restaurants cafes will they have an english menu and things like that i think again i don't speak russian people find it frustrating rather mundane so i'd bet that in mind prices because it's a price extortionate special. can you give it a go try it again eventually well there you go that's an insight from someone who has made believe outs to the far east to hobart off so it's not going to get me warmer here but it seems that with huge with the development of the region it is going to get more connected to the outside world. indeed tom but there on the back

of the headline shortly stay tuned. no it's not about spilling blood on the flimsiest the war of the barricades from

one side and fears blockade from the other. commitments invisible border has cut people from the land for twelve years. the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over. the limits. just so. it's.

i am. wealthy british style. sometimes the tirelessly. market why not. come to. find out what's really. happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report.

soon which brightened if you remove the sun moon from plans to pressure. for instance on t.v. dot com. welcome back a recap of our top stories now with american troops now out of iraq concerns are mounting of what's being left behind it's proving deadly for journalists who are being silenced or even tortured by police for speaking out against the government. a suicide last taunting police bus that killed twenty five people in syria's capital as western tensions between the opposition and the government leaders to blame the attack on terrorists and protest is finding it increasingly hard to play just peaceful demonstrations. and christmas has come from millions of orthodox

christians around the globe and some forty three and out and open celebrations by attending traditional midnight that's. next to max and stacy take on the scandal swirling around big business. max kaiser this is the kaiser report payday loans pawnbrokers and the paranormal. max they're all connected in today's headlines first bill gross and the memo says towards the paranormal in this memo he says markets are slowly imploding because there's too much paper and too little trust kill the paper bugs kill the paper bugs kill the paper bugs.