just saw. him. come out to me. yeah duryea hostage siege continues for a third day with several foreigners still being held by islamic terrorists as france braces for more fallout over its mali intervention. david cameron's accused of fudging the e.u. issue with political rivals seizing on extracts of his address on britain's future in the union which they say threatens the country's democracy also. the bolshoi theatre is artistic director successfully undergoes the first operation to save his eyesight after an acid attack that's being linked to his profession.

it's five pm here in moscow this is r t coming to live with me a nice and now way it's two pm in algiers and the algerian military is stepping up its efforts to free the last remaining international hostages held by islamic terrorists at a gas facility the siege is now in its third day and has seen at least twelve civilians killed when all cheery and forces launched a blitz rescue attempt and hundreds of local workers and several foreigners were freed but the remaining captives include british american and japanese nationals the islamists say they took the hostages in retribution for the ongoing french intervention in mali in neighboring mali paris is standing by its campaign and

claims the algerian crisis justifies it further but some say the stance could backfire on the french government as probably boycott now reports. it's all calm on the streets of paris but with an escalating military intervention in mali and an algerian hostage crisis in response to it french public opinion is projected to turn against francois hollande pledged to help the mali government once he's really hit by the u. normandy of what they may be taking on in mali there may be a lot of questions then asked about his judgment and a lot of people who are supposedly supporting him now or may very quickly turn around and criticize it's already beginning to happen we've spoken to provisions here who lament the fact that they weren't told in advance that the military offensive was set to take place meanwhile voices in the french media complained of a war with no pictures they say that there's a media blackout and accuse the government of making it intentional journalist

surprising thing is that. we had no. recourse or information from. the day after this really started day and for most of all that when you see what's happening what has happened in iraq or in afghanistan surely if you will if you read to the region and if he lasts long it's going to be a problem comparisons already being made to the usa as experience in iraq and afghanistan conflicts that were initially supported at home out of a sense of patriotism and support for the troops but it turned into lengthy and costly and deeply unpopular wars at home now if this mission creep becomes only driving on the terrorists as some ministers and even a long time self seem to be saying. that it's going to be a failure because you cannot drive out all the terrorists. and many soldiers die

and there are attacks in paris and public opinion will shift the way it has done for other was. was either war started by france or was started by them by the u.s. but nevertheless french president francois hollande remains committed to the french military offensive in mali making grand statements that the french intervention won't tens and to legitimize it off already in the country is restored for what many french people are beginning to wonder is just how long that might take and at what cost playboy k t paris middle east researcher dr yunus are you from columbia university told us that the french intervention in mali has materialistic and geo political motives the konami crisis has shown that the western developed countries have. lost the economic competition against the new. players china russia south africa the brics countries basically

and now that tending to militarize this competition trying to expel the chinese from the region the natural resources are very important especially when you know because it's a very necessary element and resourceful france this is basically a new fight and competition over the resources of the african countries this is going most probably to spread in the region and there's also this new cold war that it's taking place one of its battles being fought in syria and as we speak and it's now also in africa we've seen what happened in libya and now the french are coming back again they're all former colonies to basically play the role of the master especially to deal west no is more focused on now in asia so it's a big political game and geopolitical game in the region artie's andrew farmer has been looking into the possible pretext for an international struggle over mali and

the rest of africa. mali potentially has a wealth of minerals that can be exploited as far as oil is concerned there is zero proven reserves however it is believed major oil fields have been discovered in the north of the country although that still has to be mapped on top of that mali is africa's third largest exporter of gold if we can only why south africa and ghana and there are also some five thousand tons of uranium deposits the french have two major mines in the country already and extract extensive amounts from neighboring niger and would not want that jeopardized in any ways they rely almost entirely on uranium for their nuclear energy all this is led some analysts to think that big economic incentives are also fueling the u.s. backed french intervention here's what the author eth william angle had to say the critical strategical goal of u.s. foreign policy so you need all of us here present is to prevent the core he's

expanding your region lambaste from russia or china to iran to northern africa and the rest of africa that could leave the united states as a houseman are just. so according to him the u.s. is fearful of china's increasing economic presence in africa in the figures seem to back up that argument china has increased its investment in africa exponentially over the last decade and they are catching america fast despite the u.s. investing over one hundred billion dollars over the last two years mali it can't be denied does have significant geopolitical importance. we have more of dave's and expert analysis of the crisis in north africa on our website for you r t dot com. well prime minister david cameron of is using the developing hostage crisis in algeria to delay his announcement on britain's future role within the e.u. that's according to the leader of the u.k. independence party nigel ferrars this after the pm was forced to cancel friday's

speech on the issue or to sarah further caught up with the u.k.i.p. leader to discuss the released extracts from the would be address. key to the ongoing hostage crisis in algeria involving a number of british nationals amongst others the prime minister had to postpone that long awaited for speech on europe but nonetheless some extracts of what he was expected to say in that speech have been revealed to us more about that were outside the house in london to talk to the leader of the u.k. independence party nigel farage the party that says we're better off out the. some of the excerpts that reveal quite a positive thing to that does surprise you well positive in the sense of you know he's using euro skeptic language to pursue a euro agenda she exactly what harold wilson did forty years ago this speech is happening because of the rise of using it on the rise of you could has led to massive discontent on the back benches in the house of commons and amongst the

conservative party in the whole country that's what he's responding to that's why he talked tough and says we must renegotiate but the reality of what he says if you read the subtext is that the e.u. is very good for us but it serves our interests and i promise i promise god to do my best over the next five years to do everything i can to keep britain a member of that union this issue is a key constitutional issue it is needed economics it's about who governs britain it's about are we to depend on nation as a democracy and determine their own future or not and i want to referendum now promise because i want to ask there's a lot of concern that if a person left the that this is massively affect our relationships our trade relationships certainly have a hit on the economy as a result of that what do you say to those concerns a classic scare tactics always employed by the status quo whether they're defending slavery for the called laws or e.u. membership you know transparently body with

a whole series of shocks you know three million british jobs would be lost if we left the european union really really we import massively more from you that we sell to them would mislead is stop selling cars. the e.u. well i think we all know. and you think the person should be looking to trade outside the well you know what i'm saying is this that europe is aging europe as a percentage of the world economy is now for me quite sharply it is gripped by eurozone crisis which is likely because of their fanaticism to keep it together to last for up to a decade and yeah ok europe is the. exact but it's an important market. for the rest of the world to us and we're impotent because we're stuck inside this old fashioned nineteenth century concept of a customs union we can't make our own trade deals anywhere else in the world let's have a free trade deal with europe. and let's reengage with the rest of the world we've always see this latest postponement to take understandable reasons but i've seen

a number of delays already what do you think about that the fact that this is such a huge issue and we just had. you know i've been waiting for years for this speech not a couple of weeks doesn't matter too much thank you very much for joining us nigel for us clear information about when exactly that big speech in europe will be delivered something is that it could be as early as next week and of course the latest place payment making that big speech on europe no less controversial. this month is payback time for the fun and frolics of christmas and new here. it's not even close you know somebody illusion with his own clothes you're there exactly so. i could tell you i'm feeling very exhilarated right now it's a pity for orthodox christians which means of freezing dip into ice cold waters and join our correspondent for some soul cleansing later this hour. and britain

flourishing slave trade human trafficking is on the bias despite efforts to stamp out the exploitation of immigrants are to reports just ahead. world. money and technology innovation all the moves developments around russia we've got the future are covered. makes life complete. and a happy family. or self-expression. so true. one little. child.

mission free credit patient free storage free. range free. free. free. old free broadcast video for your media projects free medio done to our teeth dot com. watching our t.v. live from the russian capital now it's thought up to twenty seven million people in the world today are caught in some form of slavery about eight hundred thousand are being trafficked across borders each here what might surprise you though is that one magnet for those exploiting others for sex for forced labor is britain laura smith investigates why. it wasn't allowed to do

anything i was the one to know the claymore cooking looking after the children. but i wasn't even allowed to take the kids to school i was locked inside the house when i was nowhere and open the door side it sounds like something from an eighteenth century workhouse but it's britain today so it was trafficked to this country aged twelve now nineteen she's still too afraid to talk about her experience but the fact that she's played here by an actor doesn't make her horrific story any less real. i was slapped and right i kept getting the right. things i was like a slave never time i kept playing i kept trying to clean myself up and i kept getting called and she was shouting asking me to keep playing even the house is clean i still have to keep playing. eventually sarah's female employer threw her out of the house aged just fourteen with no way of contacting relatives at home she

lived on the street for nine months begging until she eventually found help through pat an international group campaigning against child trafficking it's a story that all too common and it's not just about domestic slavery according to experts many people are trafficked to work on cannabis farms in the u.k. and they're often kept in a perpetual cycle of debt or through fear of repercussions for their families but another sector that says is rife with trafficking victims particularly from asia is high street nail bar so next time you go for a manicure pedicure ask yourself who serving you and is the seller that sells figures from the into departmental ministerial group on human trafficking show it's risen by thirty three percent compared to last year and victims come from all over the world africa europe and the far east. more than two thousand.

victims there's a retreat. victims say they were just ten percent. twenty. trafficked into this country. business. for organized criminal gangs is the second most profitable thing to drugs and a lot less chance of getting caught that rise could be because more cases of being reported but chloe seta who works with trafficking victims including sara says it's partly down to a lack of police awareness only eight cases of trafficking were successfully prosecuted last year trafficking is seen not just in the u.k. but worldwide as a low risk high profit crime those criminals who might previously been smuggling drugs arms. may now be looking to also children and people because a child can be recycled he will can be recycled the drugs that they have

a one off crime so there's a number of ways of a control and and once that happens they are literally sort of assigned to the trafficker for hospital time unless the authorities do something to intervene antony steen founder of a parliamentary group on trafficking is leading the biggest ever conference on the subject held in britain slavery. a modern day slavery is alive and well and ten times the size of what it was when it was abolished two hundred years ago but prosecution relies heavily on hearsay evidence and testimony and huge numbers of victims like sarah never want to talk about their experiences again laura smith r.t. london. in other news the artistic director of the historic bolshoi theatre has successfully undergone an initial operation to save his sight following a gruesome acid attack in central moscow over his doctors do say it's too early to predict whether surrogate feeling will fully manage to regain his vision let's get

the latest on the story live from outside the bolshoi theater joins us medina question about with the latest tell us what is his condition what more do you know about what is happening with thirty feet. while doctors say the surrogate fillin is in a satisfactory condition is currently at so one of moscow's burn center and he's not in intensive care anymore now the latest reports also say that he has already been questioned by the investigators now sergei filin underwent eye surgery and doctors say that it will take up to seven days to determine whether the surgery was successful now throughout the first twenty four hours after the attack the doctors were battling to save his eyesight and now they say that it's going to take up to two weeks to determine whether felons vision could be saved now the bolshoi theatre artistic director suffered c.v.

wrt through degree burns to his face and eyes and now some say that there is a very big chance that you will need plastic surgery in the future now the attack happens late on thursday when sergei filin was coming back home so he stepped out of keyscore and. flying to man wearing a mask hold him so he turned around to respond and he threw a ball to a said right into his face there is also a street surveillance video that cop troops the exact moment. to find a masked man was very quickly leaving the scene so now the investigators are all. so working with the speedy oh. we're also reading about how this wasn't the first incident in terms of threats or kind of being harassed by people and there's also a lot of rumors that this could be someone in the profession some kind of rivalry what are investigators saying about that. well exactly that's what the

investigators say they say that felons professional exhibits he might have been the primary reason behind this terrible attack and even surrogate him south complaints before the attack to some of his closest colleagues that he was intimidated for several months his car tires were slashed he received numerous telephone calls with rats and his facebook page was even hocked well it doesn't really come as a surprise that conflicts between the behind the scenes of some big famous theaters should do happen and do take place but still some of the closest colleagues of phillips that work there how been working with him shoulder to shoulder they say that they could never imagine that it war for roles could to really reaches this level of crime and some colleagues see the though he was appointed the artistic

director off the bud sure theater just in a more issue thousand and eleven but still a mostly average thing at the theater was deposited to put his decisions. barmak on your show hard and promoted and distributes to roles decides who gets to go on tours abroad compiles the rehearsal schedules and so forth he's the head of the collective who influences every decision within the company and his opinion carries a lot of weight from a. surrogate fillin was also known for his a passion to words to contemporary performances and he introduced someone to this. each of the body so now some of his colleagues say that might be the disapproval of some of his actions could have been one of the reasons behind this attack. he's locus of opinion that's because we've been having a lot of contemporary performances recently maybe somebody didn't approve of them

but others really did people receive multiple awards for the productions but nobody should be reacting to something they don't like with such inhumane cruelty towards others to come just looking. so far at the phillips professional exhibit c. a really stands as a primary reason behind this attack. right meeting of course in iraq joining us live from outside the bolshoi theater where of course the artistic director was the victim of this gruesome attack thanks for that update. let's take a look now at some other stories from around the world this hour gunmen have blown up an important oil pipeline in yemen the blast from explosives reportedly planted overnight cause serious damage and halted oil transportation in the southern province now the pipeline operated by the korean national oil company transfers crude oil to export terminals in the gulf of aden which the government blames for

the blast has frequently attacked oil routes since the ousting of yemen's veteran president aliyev del us away early last year. more afghan taliban fighters being held in custody in pakistan are to be released that's according to pakistani officials islam about hopes the move will bolster cobbles efforts to bring the militants closer to the negotiating table ahead of the looming nato the looming nato troops withdrawal from afghanistan over the number of detainees to be freed and where they'll be released remains unclear venezuela's president hugo chavez is reportedly been moved from a hospital in cuba where he was receiving cancer treatment to a secret location is rumored to now be in a bunker a specially built for former cuban leader fidel castro it's apparently to avoid leaks to the media about travis's health and in preparation for him to return home now the ailing leader has not been seen since his latest cancer surgery in mid

december and missed his own inauguration ceremony. well how better to tone for the excesses of the holiday than a naked plunge into ice cold water it's a pity for orthodox christians on a day for a breathtaking did it in line with century old traditions our correspondent peter all over has been enjoying the full experience let's have a look. winter temperatures commonly fall below minus fifteen celsius in the russian capital perfect conditions for a swim say this lot they are part of a group who refer to themselves as a walrus club and they believe in the health benefits of taking a few subzero laps here to show them those quite prange colds all my life until i turned sixty when i took up i swimming and i've never had any kind of a cold since then you know as i was acquitted i used to have terrible back pain but it's gone now i'm healed sure the natural course but after i took up i swimming i

regained my flexibility i could even do a proper like split and that's how it works i recommended to everyone it's the only existing cure to all illnesses. this isn't a new activity in the tradition of the russian orthodox church will ship is mark the feast of the with a late night submergence into the icy waters symbolizing the baptism of jesus and the anyone thinking that they would like to give it a go i do have these woods from my own experience statement calls. that say i did provided that the first day they put their heart when i read notion that the russian legs aren't cool tell you you're there exerts and. i could tell you i'm feeling very exhilarated right now the head walrus at this swimming hole is bloody new going to be in can he's the chairman of the russian ice swimming and cold water treatment federation and insists that there are genuine medical benefits if you the

main way i swimming works for you is through blood circulation driven by cold and struggling to stay warm your body contracts his blood vessels so there's less blood pumped around the system so where does the excess blood go it goes to the vital organs that is why it's good for the kidneys and liver they are constantly cleansed . vladimir has also trained thrill seekers he wants to push the abilities of the human body to the limits. day of holds the record for time spent in icy water i'm going to. spend sixty minutes in there and i helped him get out of that condition when he could hardly talk he couldn't even say mama he couldn't walk his arms wouldn't move but thirty five minutes later he was recovered and could talk to the press. the russian ice swimming federation has one and a half million members across the country and blah to me it does his best to drum up more supports with his own personal guarantee for years for the little i jumped

into a nice hole for the first time thirty four years ago i saw that people who did it are never sick and so i decided to give it a try now look at me fit as a butcher's dog. well it might not be everybody's idea of a good time but be it for health reasons all for spiritual reasons there's no shortage of people willing to take the plunge of a faulty mosco. might be swimming to be being given the cold shoulder as the u.k. foreign office says british veterans who served in the legendary arctic convoy are not allowed to accept russian medals for bravery as we've reported today online. ukraine's convicted former prime minister yulia tymoshenko could get her and her sentence extended it to life find out why at r t v dot com. up next i'll go no interviews a prominent russian american animator in the spotlight. all

. the news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule the day.

hello again and welcome to spotlight the interview show on r.t. i'll do you know when today my guest on the program. as a child gandy told to call ski learned english from bugs bunny and cartoons moscow born he moved to america at the age of seven and like every kid he was a huge fan of katun son comic books but then he says unlike others you never grew out of it his childhood passion turned into a career marked with two emmys and a dozen other awards his cartoons dax's lab summer a jack and star wars have millions of fans worldwide.