editions commemorating the birth of christ. this is from the russian capital with twenty four hours a day good to have you with us this hour pulling out of iraq washington expressed pride at what had been achieved in confidence in a democratic future but just weeks on violence is rampant and sectarian tension near boiling point while the pm pursues a seemingly personal vendetta against the vice president and caught in the middle of it all is journalism where the press has yet to discover its freedom sebastian meyer has this report. this spring iraqis inspired by neighboring arab countries began protesting against their government in a square in baghdad one which shares its name with the better known counterpart in cairo. but iraqi journalists trying to cover these protests

silenced by the government security forces in today's iraqi journalists who speak out are routinely imprisoned beaten or just simply killed it seems to be a high level of intolerance or dissent or for public criticism of the government policies or particular leaders use it felt 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 slap me in the head other one kicked me in the and they grabbed me fast 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 for example to go to tahrir square i myself i don't go there i stopped 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 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 it was imprisoned for four days and tortured. six men came to the room and started to shout at me to 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 that is not just that people been. using there but this is again is not protected by the government the government is against and you can see that there are people in the midst of interior for example they have misusing their power against the citizen and there is this year and that is the comfortable and some of them has been fired almost nine years after the invasion u.s. troops are home but what 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 or freedom that is essential to any democratic country sebastian meyer or iraq. and if you'd like to see more of sebastian's reports you can find them on our website it's r.t. dot com under iraq also there we're running a poll asking at the moment where you think a post us iraq is heading the prevailing opinion as we can see on screen at the moment as the country is slowly slipping into chaos when a third say iraqis will overthrow the current us backed government and make their own way forward into the future you can see there about a quarter of you believe that iraq's already hit rock bottom and things can't get any worse and just a few percent harbor hope that it will develop into a western style democracy log on to r.t. dot com and add your voice if we could to hear from. the u.s. and the u.k. of course for syria to be expelled from two unesco human rights committees a british foreign office representative says the country's presence in itself

sully's the u.n. bodies reputation meanwhile a former high ranking military chief and president assad's regime who defected to the opposition has claimed syria won't be capable of confronting any international military action against the country he says the assessment is based on confirmed information from sources with in the syrian army and his own experience it comes as tension in the country reaches boiling point after a suicide blast targeting police killed twenty six people in central damascus something the government vowed to respond to with an iron fist or for more on what's happening in and around syria let's talk to the clerk from the center for research on globalization based in canada joining us live. well these calls on unesco to expel syria from the human rights committees will that have any effect on resolving the conflict. well i don't think so i mean there's just nothing to affect the credibility of the assad regime and it's quite absurd when you think that the

u.k. and you have selves war criminals running free i mean george bush and twenty blair there is ample evidence that they have committed war crimes and they're running free i mean this is absurd. they want to expel the syrians from that from the council let's talk about the recent violence we've been seeing there in syria a lot of speculation on who may be behind that deadly blast in damascus with both sides blaming each other for the assault where do you think the roots of this attack came from. well i think right now it's really too early to say who has committed the crimes there's no evidence. one thing one thing. that's unfair it's the media has clearly taken sides on this and they're clearly promoting . the explanation of the opposition and this is quite strange because i mean in the past ten years people have been trying to link or suspect the u.s.

government's been behind the nine eleven attacks these people have been systematically. discredited as the crazy conspiracy theorists and now. the syrian government that is being blamed for a speech ingles attacks we don't hear that crazy conspiracy theory explanation but that's the violence is escalating does that not mean that is a reason for foreign intervention indeed the general as i just said a little earlier who defected he said that syria won't put much of a fight up against any foreign invasion in effect is the inviting intervention here from foreign parties. yes and it's also a threat to the syrian government that. actually there is a violence waiting for and for the government so. what would the consequences of that be if there were to be foreign intervention in the way that

we've seen in libya. well i mean clearly have the same the same in fact it would be a regime change i mean this clearly has. been a. regime change tactic where. you have a free syrian army which is being funded and armed fired by foreign powers and we have the my position is the government's also happened and leave us and. you have. you know this is a country of the leader and start. cracking up a little bit there with the bad communication but basically what i heard you saying is that yes there is an ultimate goal of regime change by western powers but. really what is the ultimate goal of the west when he was saying that if sad does

fall then it would lead to further chaos not just of course in syria but widely in the region and if so if it does go who replaces him i mean there's no real cohesive opposition at the moment is there. well there is the syrian national council and i mean it's people who clearly would be willing to do so for the western and interests of the assad regime who is an ally of iran and. russia it's not it's not a western allies of course that would put someone in place which is it would further their interests and just briefly one analyst saying earlier that this could really increase tensions between the likes of russia china iran against the west on a wider scale what do you think the implications could be just briefly. i think yes of course. if you have. syria and the syrian government that is being. drawn to put someone in place further the western interest and iran would lose an

arab russia as an ally and then of course the next step would be would be. regime change in iran judy thanks very much your thoughts about the break up in communication little earlier but we're going to see all of that eventually thank you for joining us live in montreal. well still ahead we continue to meet the trailblazers of post soviet business and find a series. 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 billionaires before they were thirty meet the american bringing studios to russia who explains how his business is succeeding in developing new movie magic plus. we don't just keep printing money we don't keep inflating governments so that's why most of the european countries are having trouble it's because the government is sixty percent larger than it should be so

why why do you and i think it is and government leaders can't because we don't get paid by the people that are behind the scenes what's wrong with the global economy and how would you fix it the resident also questions on the streets of new york a little later. today the orthodox well they're celebrating christmas commemorating the birth of jesus christ thirteen days after western worshippers according to the julian calendar and talk about two hundred million people celebrate christmas on the seventh of january one of the oldest christian countries georgian worshippers began the holy day with midnight mass in bosnia but he has come round she is from the trees to burn them later and shoot us as part of a tradition orthodox bulgarians plunge into icy waters to recover crucifixes by priests in the old ritual marking the feast if any and all these people over was in a vigil at the crisis eva cathedral here in moscow. both christians

celebrating christmas and here in russia. in with a traditional service here at the christ the savior cathedral in the center of the russian capital that service presided over by the patriarch of. the heads of the russian orthodox church attended by the great and the good the dignitaries old russian society president dmitri. as well as seeing me a pig is attending this church service around five thousand people in total crammed into the christ the savior could see more of them in fact actually taking places around the outskirts of the cathedral to just try and get a view of the church something what was going on inside it of course to hear the bells that had been a ringing out to celebrate the birth of jesus christ now. question it always comes up is why is christmas being celebrated in january now this is due to the fact that the russian orthodox church as well as some of the branches of all

the docs christianity and the julian calendar as opposed to the calendar used by western christianity which means that in russia as well as some other countries christmas falls on the seventh of january huge day in the old calendar and something that has become a real tradition here in russia opening in one thousand nine hundred seven the traditional christmas. christ the savior. of our reporting that he was in the center of moscow and we've been covering the service which was held throughout the night on our website www dot com and you can see the vigil again with. also the editor in chief of the magazine zolotov that's available for you right now. and also there you can find the address by the head of the russian church who called on the nation to find peace and love for the whole of mankind on the web sites. you can find about heading for.

the failed russian probe just days before. well next here on r.t. we continue our part find a series bringing you the stories of foreigners who are successfully pioneering business here in russia and today we meet the man who brought scores of world renowned actors and bands to the country over the past few years bob van roekel used to be a restaurateur in los angeles until the siding one day to try his luck here in russia something he's never regretted.

i basically ended up moving to russia all by accident in nineteen 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 gosh my 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 actors but i started meeting them just to bring them to russia or came on that project the russian comedy that's going to shoot in america steven seagal zola he told me they'll do it 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 release 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 example is recently i was asked to bring john claude van damme to chechnya for the president's birthday and

day. the city and. yet oblivious to that of the other one oh it is 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 it 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 it 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 and you

know i was thinking your. from here which is part of the reason i never learned russian is i just thought ok more new year from now i'm sure something will come up back in the l a the us 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. while individual careers may be flourishing the whole countries are drowning in debt and next we head to new york where the president asked people in the streets for tips on what should be done to rescue the global economy. today everyone's upset with how the world leaders are handling the economy so how would you fix it this week let's talk about that whole country do you think it's doing a good job. let me thing. you know now. what

would you do to fix the problem in greece. in greece wow. i do you know how did that. because i know i say no no no maybe that's why it's going all around a good word fixes each of our problems personally so for all out there working hard and spending money to local communities then that's you know a way of part of building up each local small community eventually the whole country gets stronger right 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 that's a good answer yes to fix the economy what should they be doing. they should be pumping more money into it pumping more money they've been pumping millions and billions and trillions and done a good so why is that the solution that we keep going back to the only thing they can do so they can also say just do nothing and let people sort it out themselves

american people can sort of theirselves not a matter of not throwing money into the economy it's a matter of living within 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 well they have to they 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 to at least stop the hemorrhaging we don't just keep printing money and that we don't keep inflating government so that's and most of the european countries are having trouble because the government is sixty percent larger than it should be so why why can you and i see this and government leaders can't because we don't get paid by the people that are behind the scenes and since i'm not running for. campaign i don't get current campaign contributions by people that need my help to american politicians are they just. really so what should they be doing better. other probably trying to change the economy from an oil economy to

something else with we've got heaps of people with lots of brains and we need to be doing something about the environment. people with brains are in positions of power . and 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. time here on r.t. for all russia close up series as we continue to delve deeper into the country's far east. the cupboard off screen is russia's main gateway to the pacific and one of its most rapidly developing industrial centers and as artist hot button is discovered fading

a feel hungry asian economies does not have to be at the expense of tradition. the bar 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 ward and coal are going out to the pacific and south and is that they were looking at in my report this monster called the coal stack or 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 to asian markets but we've noticed there's a coal boom of coal consumption worldwide has increased so these ports covers almost all of asia from the call comes from some of russia's largest deposits five hundred kilometers inland who joins the oil and timber flowing out of the region in

ever greater quantities tugboats maneuver the ships into place through storms and the winter cold and even the most modern tankers once on their way to helped along by a much older technology oh and this vast new ship internals are springing up to supply overseas markets the old see very foundations presented by this light house which along with 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. we're close enough to the nearest town. well look at other lighthouse keepers are stuck out in the tiger without even roads sometimes a ship or helicopter deliver supplies but 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. i used to go down to the bay of four am catching crabs and start a fire then my wife and kids would join me and we'd have breakfast on the shore and watch the sun rise in the summer this whole field would be bright orange and blue if you could pick to retires next year he says he's come to love the spotlight robinson crusoe on his island 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 the bar often the experience of moving here from abroad is the main aholic that came here from britain our basket self is trying to upgrade

itself trying to move into the out of the soviet times and into the modern modern age where industry with the also working on a new cosmodrome what you know about the new developments here i know that is very very important to the local area and you know that is improving transport links all the time people are finally investing in the far east which is obviously going to be very good for the economy i mean i'm here because my fiance is working for an oil refinery in the same or investment there and this cousin jane is going to i think any improve putin said it was one of the biggest and most important projects that's happening in russia at the moment so yes i think it's up and coming this. is someone who's come from a different culture from outside what would you say to what the people who are thinking. there is possibly business which changes but should i come here what would you say to them. and i mean it's worth a try how good during your russian with this important and very few restaurants or cafes where they have an english menu and and things like that i think when i don't

speak russian people find it frustrating rather than bear that in mind prices ok so if prices are extortionate. you can go check. of intervention well there we go that's an insight from someone who has made the leap out to the far east so. it's not going to get any warmer here but it seems that with future with the development of the region it is going to get more connected to the outside world. there will coming up kate will be bringing the latest tennis surprises from the semifinals at the qatar open that's in our sports update but first i'll be back with a recap of our top stories for you in about half an hour stay with us life here in moscow.

not with not about spilling blood. it's the war of the barricades from one side and fears blockade from the other. invisible border has cut people from the land for twelve years. the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over.

well with the. science technology innovation hall believes developments from around russia we've got the future covered. the twenty four hours a day this is all to live here in moscow top stories now the front line of journalism dissent with us away in iraq as the government intensifies its own crackdown on protests and the press report against the backdrop of an increasingly perilous security situation in the country. the u.s. and u.k. calls for syria to be expelled from unesco human rights committees while tension in the country reaches a call to a suicide blast kills twenty six in the capital.