vatican announces that pope benedict the sixteenth will step down as the leader of the catholic church at the end of the month. in modern forces reclaim the city of galle we bring you a firsthand account from the city after a surprise attack by militants almost spoils french claims of a victorious campaign. and eighteen coal miners die in a methane explosion some eight hundred meters underground in russia's only republic . news as it happens twenty four hours a day you're watching our t.v. . the vatican has announced that pope benedict the sixteenth will step down on

february twenty eighth citing his old age eighty five year old will become the first head of the catholic church to resign from the post in nearly six centuries let's get more on this now from artie's tom barton live in the studio for us here told me was only part appointed in two thousand and five when that's going on why his resignation now well carry a real shock i think a small army of journalists and pope watchers that were in rome even though the even they have been taken aback by this sudden announcement today it should be noted that pope benedict the sixteenth was one of the oldest pope's to be elected when john paul the second died in two thousand and five however he has said today i do not have the mental and the physical strength anymore to continue my duties i see that my drop needs those qualities and i no longer have them so i'm stepping down there is time the vatican has been shot. of scandals as it will tell us about

that it has indeed it's certainly been a difficult time pope benedict said it was recorded to have said that he didn't really want the job of the pope and what a time to have been in fending off scandal after scandal that the church has been the catholic church has been mired in overarching the wall the child abuse sex scandal involving a number of priests around the catholic church and he having to fend off that to try and bolster the reputation of the church which really took a a battering because of that crisis we've also got vatileaks a lot of leaked information about power struggles and possible corruption inside the vatican the vatican itself responding angrily to that saying the media was trying to play a dan brown book the popular author who wrote the novel angels and demons sort of insinuating that kind of thing going on inside inside the vatican and then we've

got the vatican bank itself allegations there that that bank may be connected with with dodgy bank accounts to the italian math theory itself so a really difficult period to be pope pope benedict the second the sixteenth also trying to as well as both that reputation try and modernize the church a bit had his own twitter account got it put a million followers however big questions will be asked in the coming weeks when as the new pope is being chosen about who should lead the church the church and about the future of the catholic church in this great time of troubles as the pope the outgoing pope has said himself big questions indeed ok tom burton thanks a lot for that for now thank you. for more on the pope's a sudden resignation let's talk now to genest franco oliva who joins us live from

rome thanks for joining us here in the pope's relatively short tenure as we've been discussing has been mocked by this so-called scandal and and that corruption along with money laundering and not feelings i mean could this resignation be a way for the head of the catholic church to avoid any kind of responsibility do you think well i don't know i don't i don't think he's much worried about the spiritual. problems even thought he was he was slipping they really. center of power not just during the spring t.j. they said yes but for more than thirty years because he was the closest collaborators of john paul the second and this you know john paul disabling was much more interested in in the preaching and went around in the world to make his mission to people than today to get the well developed in itself so that my children did that it means treasury was left to the county knows they can do nothing or will sort of course one who won't be so obvious main collaborators

because you know the problems with the church they run debts to you. you're going to be for the most not peaceful keeping you know the point about for example the bank or the bet you get or are. you sneak a bank was back to bed to about twenty years ago would go with it was a big scandal with a we don't need to be an attorney or bank and just through side himself in london and then from then not only was involved all kind of scandals would we. you know i'm sure if you know answers without any. and it brought more on the problem you know even as you said we were going to talk about the things we did laundering your money because you. the scandal has dipped in the frontier you know just the two basic gold that can be known through a strenuous and rounded really you know and you know there are many in the church was just nice to us that was forbidden to participate to public to bobby to

function because he made it clear up off of that many did you feel that he prepared forty. scholars they were in your marriage and now that they have did you know that the church would make of that was the reach of the case and let me just interrupt me that with all those things going on in the vatican says a new catholic chechnya that will be elected by the end of march we think. it was but it's most likely successor any clues that. this is a people rebuilding saying in a catholic churches are wondering when to split up when the conclave comes so it's calmed you know you know you could make a bid to big games big dipper be shown before but then the support to what happens there are you know now that they have because only they get college of county votes there but he's going to need to be in your march this must be complicated you know you spent the time being it's where we are used to be that the strongest the strongest portion of the well to call it should not be i'm not very mean minority but there is no through my joy you know whether the you know this few months they

were there but to be sensible and or do this congress they talked there was much talk about what course sides debate here in the budget but usually they said to the secretary of state the best one was going to be to to step down and somebody did know that the pope did this was the the biggest surprise to everybody was expecting for some of that mean essentially of the government to say that you are still to be to be changed nobody so to that point not because we have to. none of us were there for just that it didn't just basing the two thousand and five when john pointed to second by your member of the day did for a couple of service except for me with you me suffering. and no beliefs which were . ninety four ok we're going to have to leave it there we're going to have to leave it there but frank oliver thanks very much for those thoughts on that breaking news here after

you thank you thank you very much. french and mali and troops have regained control of after is the most militants launched a surprise attack what is northern mali is most populous city authorities say three civilians were killed during sunday's fighting comes after recent claims by france that the military campaign is almost complete and as local correspondent gonzalo one she reports the joint forces are struggling to secure the regions to by insurgents. the situation in mali is obviously going to have a gruesome ending there are more than enough indications of that last friday the country was shaken by the very first terrorist attack in its history according to the witness report of what was carried out by a fifteen year old suicide bomber of arab descent the bomber was the only one killed after the detonation a few hours later responsibility for the attack was claimed by the mosher wod jihadists one thing to remember here is that this is

a basque desert territory and therefore it is very difficult to control this attack is just another example confirming that despite the news reports of the french army having taken over gal timbuktu into doubt there is still a long way to go before jihadists are ousted from the country in severe artie's crew was given access to the civil defense camps where volunteers and civilians are preparing to fight against the jihadists the f.l. and they and again the coil local pro-government militia movements that account for a total of two thousand eight hundred operatives but do not support the strategy chosen by the french in mali and joined forces in fighting the terrorists. we share the same goals but what they did was a really bad service to us for there was no really about the army itself al-qaeda had been operating on mali and territory for a number of years now they have all those and they keep getting more by kidnapping white people for ransom trons pays them to have its citizens returned and then the

terrorists have cash to buy weapons if we talk about al-qaeda there's no way the army can fight it because that she it's terrorism in action. those paramilitary who know the terrain well say fighting a war they cannot take part in is meaningless one thing all these paramilitary groups have in common is their patriotism and zeal to protect their country and drive away the narco terrorists but this is a losing fight given the financial resources and ammunition stock they have. i'm ready to go it's all lengths i'm raised to give my life right now to save my family up there in the north because we're all here have family so i believe france will stop these attacks for a while or and the french troops leave they will start all over again because the criminals are still out there hiding them on the civilians and all of them have been caught really need to be given the mandate to complete this mission and our own we're ready for it although we can do it because we grew up in the north we

know the terrain and the people so we're the only ones who can stop them and find them in the villages and the desert where we know every corner and every part of land. over all while the jihadists forces are taking over their land kidnapping people and using suicide bombers to fight for their cause the civilian population remains the country's most vulnerable at root. of the ongoing conflict was among the topics artie's going to chicken discussed with russia's ambassador to the un the talent churkin it interview where there were eight hundred forty five g.m.t. there's also available for you any time on our website dot com here's a preview. but a question of spring was the dramatic events in libya. we're in the course of the crisis of course lots of weapons were brought into libya and there was a lot of there were lots of weapons of as it is but still many more weapons were brought into libya during the recent hearings which then secretary of state clinton

had in the house of representatives one of the congressman said that they had information that cut out with a wink and nod as he put it from the united states brought in twenty thousand tons of weapons into libya and you know twenty thousand tons you can arm is small terrorist army and so on of course this is exactly what has happened in mali definitely we see a spillover from i believe the crisis to to a neighboring country and most likely the spillover has affected other places as well for instance it may well be there are many indications to that effect that the terrorist attack. in the in the jury had something to do i mean close to the libyan border also had some sort of libyan connection in terms of people maybe weapons terrorists emanating from libya participating in that attack.

and so i had for you this hour more tension in cairo as egypt suppositions bows to bring supporters streets and mass rallies walking two years since the fall of former president hosni mubarak. plus we explain by environmentalists in ukraine are outraged by their phones his decision to go ahead with a multi-billion dollar gas project that story in a few minutes after a short break. good lumber tour. to build. anything mission to teach me the creation of why you should care about humans. this is why you should care only. we speak your

language. news programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little turn to angles stories. you hear. the spanish. visit. sometimes you see a story and it seems. you think you understand it and then something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything is. hard bargain the big picture. taking. people have been killed by methane explosion in

a mine in russia's northern republic make this report say one person is still missing the blast happened eight hundred meters below the surface more than two hundred fifty miners were underground let's get more on this now from. well what more can you tell us about this and. what we know that at least two hundred forty two people have been evacuated from the mine immediately after the explosion that is to say that created at one point there were several people who were missing looks like most of them have to be covered unfortunately dead as you said one person is still. i listed as missing at least from a she we're getting is from the ministries of the emergencies in fact of course there has been some confusion about the numbers from the get go different ministries different definitions were given different numbers in terms of people who are still trapped underground or. have died as

a result of the blasts in fact the confusion over the numbers has been such that president clinton has directed the head of the ministry other emergencies to head down to the place of the incident and figure out what exactly is happening with the numbers why where is the confusion coming from other than that we also know that immediately already a program has been set up in order to help financially the families of those up and have lost their relatives say in the blast and that's it compensation should be in the amount of about six billion rubles that was two million mobiles i'm sorry that is roughly sixty six thousand dollars the family read any information as yet as to what may have caused the blast in the first place. well if it is it assumed at the moment that is the that. it is assumed at the moment the primary cause of the blast has been a gas explosion the methink gas explosion again as a get of course that is still a preliminary cause of the blast investigation has been launched

a criminal case has been launched into this as well which is said to investigate whether or not negligence in terms of. safety regulations has been in place that is what we know at the moment. of pay for the thank you. living on suicide rates are soaring in the u.k. with money worries pushing many over the edge cuts to mental health services and aggressive debts collecting are started by experts as major factors aggravating the situation. and that's one mother who lost her child over the debt dispair. for the last year and a half and thorn has been coming to terms with the tragic death of a son aged just twenty three toby took his own life riding his spinal words on the back of a bank statement after racking up a three thousand pound overdraft and a five thousand pounds student debt it was just the shock it wasn't from one but

had a history of depression or mental illness or even had come across as being down or depressed you know in the last few weeks months of his life if anything he came across the someone that you know didn't have. following his death and became a trustee for the charity piracy which aims to prevent suicide among young people from a home in cornwall she even runs her own blog giving advice but it's a battle her charity and similar ones around the u.k. are struggling to win suicide is on the increase according to latest figures accounting for six thousand deaths between twenty ten and twenty eleven a rise of seven percent so why being increase while an inquest ruled that toby's financial problems were written for would factor to his suicide expert as nice a bit enabling u.k. economy is partly to blame for the recent deaths nationwide areas of high unemployment such as camden here in london are among those worst affected and it's

a problem compounded by cutbacks in mental health services the double whammy effect of the recession is that the people are becoming more distressed more anxious and therefore more at risk of wanting to take their own lives at the same time whether sterrett and cuts means that we have fewer psychiatric beds that the crisis isn't there and if that isn't enough the growth of same day loan companies and intimidating debt collectors are adding to the pressures people are feeling according to researchers at brighton university we have some very very good regulations that protect people like it's problematic letting problematic debt collection however here's the big take leap well it's because these practices are still. in response the u.k. government has announced plans to crack down on aggressive bailiff's from next year late night visits will not be allowed and restrictions will be put on what property

can be seized they are also spending over a million pounds on research as part of a suicide strategy plan but that is only one very small step in the right direction for someone like cam if no they aren't. one thing i've learned more about thirty five than i ever wanted to know but i've done a lot of reading a wreath and i think strangely complex hopefully entirely the trend will go down with we need to be. andrew farmer to london or we have more stories and pictures for you on our website r.t. dot com here's a quick glimpse of what we have lined up there if you today. never sure what you're doing tomorrow if not then a u.s. defense giant may be able to tell you we can now predict your future steps and even behavior it says just like collecting social network data and more online.

and torn apart by a tornado a deadly twister tears through the u.s. state of alabama destroying everything in its path that footage in full artes you tube channel. security forces are on a high alert after the country's opposition announced mass rallies to mark two years since the fall of former president hosni mubarak over a dozen parties have declared their intent to march on tahrir square the presidential palace to step up pressure on currently the mohamed. pro-democracy protesters using present c.e.o. betraying the revolution to twenty torture kidnapping and political repression so villages regions are currently in a state of emergency after deadly clashes erupted across the country during the two year anniversary of the uprising as a spokesman says creating a coalition government is the only way to quell the unrest. people are gonna go to

the streets they are going on the streets willingly they don't really need any opposition calls for due process because the whole country is in a standstill there's nothing moving forward because there is no real administration at blessing the people's needs and the people demand and the actual anger in the streets so the only solution that i can see and that any sane person can see that the opposition the brotherhood and all the different political factions to be in a court of government that would be the only solution and the only way out because at that moment this government will take responsibility for any reform that's going to be as one of the happening in the country the idea of just excluding everybody out of the government post revolution country in a country that's acting or calling for democracy when there is no real parliament in session that can hold the president or the government accountable to the failures that administering the country and then refusing to have a quality of government that's just

a call for chaos if ukraine refusing to pay gas problems recent seven billion dollar gas bill authorities in kiev are working on investing the western companies to explore its shale gas reserves the controversial method proposed to boost the country's coffers isn't going down too well with environmentalists. reports. it was described as the day of the cranes and independence what in november last year signed a one billion dollar agreement with a spanish utility to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the black sea coast delight quickly turned into dismay when it emerged that the man signing the deal had nothing to do with the company three months later ukraine's leaders were shaking hands again this time with boiled dutch shell having signed a real deal to explore and develop the country's potentially he would shale gas reserves reportedly the third largest in europe. the

expectation is about eight to ten billion cubic meters of gas production per year and the highest is up to about twenty two twenty five once it's operational we will strive to fully meet our domestic energy needs and to even become an exporter. this is definitely sweet music to for years ukraine has been striving to reduce its reliance on. russia especially now when gas. was seven billion dollars for violating gas agreements this project is definitely good we would pay between one hundred fifty to one hundred eight dollars per cubic meter of gas instead of the four hundred fifty dollars we're now paying to gas problem but if everything is so promising why are people out in force against the shale gas initiative for the second sure know if not worse for years ukraine has often been divided on many different issues from perception of history to the official number of state

languages and then you shale gas initiatives are no exception if political enemies hardline nationalists and communists have put their differences aside and spoken out against. the opposition even proposed a bill prohibiting the exploration and extraction of shale gas and the matter of. information on how the gas split between shell chevron and ukrainian companies is classified and it is still not clear if it's going to be profitable plus the companies don't care how harmful it will be to the environment. but political battles aside ecologists are the most concerned with a potential threat from the shale gas program they insist it could lead to a full blown feat but whenever they speak out the pro-government media labels them as agents of gas brought. they usually add different camels to extract more gas from the rocks and so the underground system which provides fresh drinking water is completely destroyed this water reason strategic ecological resource and when one

spoil it the area becomes practically non-viable. even in the most optimistic scenario ukraine may see its own shale gas filling its pipes only in a decade from now a cola just insists they're not against shale gas in principle just that the potential environmental impact from its extraction needs to be researched and assessed before drilling begins they have already sent a letter to the president the question is whether those at the top will be willing to listen let's see russia. reporting from kiev in ukraine well after the break we report on how household garbage has become a vital lifeline for young palestinians stay with us here altie.

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