the u.k. stands a loyalty test in a referendum exacerbating the standoff with argentina over sovereignty and the. two years on the nuclear sentiment get stronger in the country marks the anniversary of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters with many unsatisfied the speed of the clean up operation. secular jews is growing is the ultra religious are excluded from compulsory military service i mean equally important the country's security.

and i welcome you watching r.t. coming to you live from moscow with me and. the disputed falkland islands are voting in the second day of a referendum on whether or not to remain a british territory but a loyal pro british sentiment among many islanders leaves little doubt as to the outcome while argentina who still lay kind to the islands have called the vote. reports now on the toxic mix of nationalism politics and oil. remind you these are some very far flung islands from britain a tiny territory now nevertheless the islanders are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of remaining a british overseas territory but this isn't just a question of national identity we know that the argentinian government's already dismissed the vote as a propaganda exercise cooked up in london but there's the prospect of all that a lot of people are talking about now there speculation surrounding how much oil there is an estimated sixty billion barrels of oil potentially to be found in the

full cleanse basin and that's worth about one hundred sixty seven billion dollars to compare that with britain's oil reserves well they seem scant in comparison the u.k. has an estimated two point eight five billion barrels of oil so if this estimation proves to be correct if the falkland islands do indeed have these sixty billion barrels then we're talking about more oil than the reserves of the usa could tar or even libya to talk about this i'm joined in the studio by ken hurst he's a journalist came to what extent is this dispute a question of resources for both the british and the argentinian government well it could be argued that it's always been questionable whether it's morally or logistically sustainable to try to protect. a colony that eight thousand miles away i suppose the argument one could be to that is economically sustainable city or

ships and so on and so forth but of course the oil rather changes all that. changes if you believe it's morally justifiable to go on which we call it you know a colonial plundering mission something we did in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries and personally i don't happen to believe it is but a lot of people are saying that this is a question of domestic politics for the argentinean president because there is a flailing a colony at home. you know picking up the question of that island sovereignty is going to increase her ratings back home well that may or may not be true certainly south america block may be having its economic issues but it's certainly becoming generally an economic powerhouse a part of the the the brazilian the russian the indian the chinese the rise of those nations and it's part of all of that and we've had issues haven't we about. vessels carrying our flags not being allowed into some some of those ports so there

is that issue around it but you know i don't know how sustainable that is it isn't trying to ramp up the argentinian claim to the islands just a way of increasing popularity at home well it may be but you've got to remember that president cristina fernandez actually had a landslide victory herself in the two thousand and eleven election i think it was so she's probably more politically stable than david cameron is and finally do you think the referendum is going to resolve this dispute referendums don't resolve disputes actually negotiation resolve disputes and that's what really needs to happen down there in the in the falklands or the melbourne of whichever you call them well in r.t. dot com we are asking what do you think argentina will do next if falkland islanders decide to stay british and these are the results of the vote so far the moment forty percent of you say that argentina will declare the vote rigged or

illegitimate slightly fewer think will be told to move to britain by their south american neighbor fifty percent expect argentina to announce a new referendum in five years while just eight percent believe. will finally back off from its claim you can tell us what you think and cast your vote at r.t. dot com. meanwhile domestically in the u.k. economic hardship appears to be sparing no one coming up we've got the story of world war two veterans whose families are forced to sell their men to mementos and memories just to pay for basic care. japan is grieving the death of over nineteen thousand people killed during a devastating earthquake and tsunami it is two years since the tragedy which triggered the world's worst atomic disaster in twenty five years the fukushima plant or a nuclear meltdown and the release of radioactive materials r.t.

sean thomas was in japan and witnessed the aftermath when i first arrived what struck me the most is that the scale of the disaster was much larger than what many people may even remember in fact what you had was you had the earthquake you had the tsunami then you have the nuclear disaster and then the lingering disaster after the fact so traveling to the coast homes destroyed villages decimated and the people doing what they could to try and pick up their lives today as we dealt with protesters claim doubts not enough is being done to clean up the contaminated areas so in yours i mean you visited some of the areas you saw some of the things that were being down there right after the disaster hit so what is your personal experience that well the people we spoke to have a great distrust for the government they don't know that time they don't feel that they were getting all of the information that they needed for their safety and i can tell you that from the get go there was a lot of mistrust in the government about how the situation was being handled on

the ground tragedy also sparked massive protests all over the globe against the use of atomic energy artie's tom barton investigates if the world is ready to weigh in itself of nuclear power. if we look at japan first of all there before the before this leak nuclear energy made about twenty five percent of japan's energy needs afterwards all nuclear reactors were suspended some have since been restarted to try to cope with blackouts far away in germany the public and politicians were horrified by what they saw unraveling in japan and that led in part to the blunders tag's decision in may two thousand and eleven to end all you clear power in germany by two thousand and twenty two in france a very different policy since the one nine hundred seventy s. france has really pushed nuclear energy as

a clean and safe provider of energy it still makes up nearly eighty percent of france's and energy needs and there although public opinion has changed slightly it's still more in favor of nuclear power than it is in japan if we look at japan again the new government is more pro nuclear energy than the previous government was but they're going to have a big a big time trying to convince the japanese population that it is worth it one thing they have on their side is that nuclear power is demonstrable cheaper than other alternatives and fossil fuels or renewables there just isn't enough of those renewables yet to try and cover the gap. where you can read law and how you plan is fixing the consequences of the think ashima tragedy at r.t. dot com as well as read expert opinions on the country's nuclear future.

it's. israel is witnessing a widening religious divide with a different secular jews you have to do their military service claim it's unfair that the ultra religious are excluded from such duty the latter-day say their contribution to the country's security is no less important artie's poor slayer spoke to people on both sides israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is struggling to form a government five weeks after parliamentary elections he can't get potential coalition partners to agree because stumbling block whether or not ultra religious

orthodox jews should serve in the i.d.f. the religious parties are certainly beginning to understand things have changed they're going to find themselves challenged on many fronts military service is going to be one of them and as a result they will have to conserve their political capital to fight on the things they care about most most ultra religious jews have never been in the israeli army and religious political parties have never been pressed on the issue like they be now but january's parliamentary elections saw new play is coming to the fore on yahoo needs in his coalition if he's to form a majority government but they're insisting the religious played a part. like this woman who spearheaded a campaign with other like minded israeli mothers they're fed up with what they call an injustice that the children should serve one others don't we thirteen now that the something is very unfair if we are going to give our children to the army

not knowing if we are going to get them back in fifty percent of the mother or the new. do not have to warry because their children do not go to the army iran is twenty eight years old married with two children while others his age were doing their national service he was here starting far from being apologetic he feels the contribution he makes is as important if not more. callers are the backbone of the jewish people i think my obligation first of all is to preserve the jewish intellect and the jewish mind for our city for this country's sake and for the generations to come and yes while i might be not putting my life at risk and also contributing to this country's security they also say which doesn't make any sense for me that a student that study the torah is soldier is not getting killed so if you are taking the twenty two thousand eight hundred soldiers that were created until now

for independence. what does it mean if you didn't study enough but the frustration among secular israelis who make up most of the population goes beyond just army service they complain ultra religious jews don't work or pay taxes while receiving disproportionate government support just about every city in israel has a religious neighborhood like this one in ten israelis it's all to also dogs the challenge remains how to include them in a society that is increasingly hostile to them whether netanyahu eventually chooses to include religious partners or leave them out of his coalition there's no running away from the growing internal divide in an already divided country policy r.t. jerusalem. syrian rebels are reportedly training on american and european instructors however not all within the opposition think foreign support is a good thing for the bright we've got an interview with one of the leaders of the

anti assad movement when he thinks the crisis is getting. do we speak your language. news programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little too much of angles kidney's stories. you hear. that all teach spanish find out more visit.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm trying hard welcome to the big picture.

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that welcome back syrian rebels could be receiving combat training from u.s. british and french instructors according to reports in europe a media it's claimed to be taking place in jordan i'm trying is a said to be wearing military uniform however some leaders of the syrian opposition believe foreign military support won't help resolve the crisis ati's arabic channel has spoken to one of the. oh good two of them and i want the opposition to be united for at least we would know who to negotiate with but unfortunately there are many small armed groups we are trying to establish contact with the most rational and far seeing opposition representatives who respect international humanitarian law and the basic constitutional principles that unite

us as syrians whose actions aren't based on religious beliefs or malicious murders there's much. aside what is your view on the main political problems of the syrian crisis for example the preservation of assad's presidency civilian death and their position being supplied with weapons and a cult will have so hello to that well first the arms supply should be stopped completely both for the rebels and for the syrian army second concerning the presidency we need time syria needs a boat ten to twenty years a parliamentarian ism to eliminate the idea of destroying one person and the role of the president so we can see that the majority of syrians support our program that will redistribute power from the president. so fun to afraid of clashes with the government which is going to be formed in istanbul and it is considered to control so-called free districts mostly not. we are

far from it still i think that if a project starts with the french foreign minister statement and then was discussed in istanbul's lobbies over three months the project doesn't have any future it is likely to be a farce and it will actually be much better if it is not realized at all because it won't gain any support or respect they still don't have a worthy candidate for prime minister they don't have any political modesty the correct way of thinking or political experience. now online few surprising claims that hitler wasn't all that bad almost all koreans hold the claim they see some benefits to his nine hundred thirty eight annexation of their country plus the high ranking told gary increased him selling his pricey rolex watch the patriots but churchill's was a good day but his cash strapped congregation thinks otherwise we'll tell you why i

don't take. i think. having fought for their country's freedom some world war two veterans in the u.k. and i'm struggling to financially survive the stereotype and skyrocketing living costs are leaving even the most decorated heroes with no other choice but to sell their medals just to make ends meet so i refer to as their story. i fired a short burst from five hundred feet producing strikes on the port engine a dull flame appeared soon it began to dive steeply exploding into the ground these

are the private extracts from the flight logs of world war two night pilot brand burbridge despite being a highly skilled and decorated pilot his story has remained largely untold until now ninety two and suffering with outsiders prances in a nursing home and his family struggling with high care costs have put the incredible memento up for sale i said that these are your medals we're selling them and there was a smile and there was a sort of recognition that. you know this this is what he these were his so i have no doubt that he's probably got some understanding of. this happening the family are hoping to raise more than one hundred thousand pounds at the auction with their father's nursing home costs averaging around fifty thousand pounds a year and service that is the money will go a long way to paying for their father's treatment the items tell the remarkable

story of the man he began the war as a conscientious objector but he wended it is arguably one of britain's most prolific night flies and the story goes one short absolutely true he never really because you only have room for the engines hoping that maybe lives will be so. pleased to see. a parachute emerge from everything so this is prances pilot flying logbook and slowly unusually he also includes his combat reports now this particular one you can see describes one of his exceptional achievements during the war where in one night alone he shot down four enemy german planes now that was absolutely remarkable and was described by a fellow night flying eighth as one of the most exceptional sorties flown during the war even now when he looks at planes there's that recognition that it's part of

his life of all of the. people who quotes you say those that have yeah i think it's yes the elderly care needs to be more funding for. care so that they don't have to sell all their possessions and all their what they fought for of their home you know in order to pay for that i think that's the hardest thing british but turns do receive a tax free pension but with sky high living in care costs and often that's simply not enough. shockingly and it's estimated that ex service personnel account for around one in ten the u.k.'s homeless politicians are criticised for abandoning but shien's in that hour of need leaving it to charities to pick up the slack we have hundreds of people who contact veterans and their dependents who contact us every

year who need help with care looking at the ageing population it's not likely that those the number of people we help would go down any time say every year in the u.k. there are key paid. people in their country but in a nation where everything north of only added to the number of leading brown fervor his story is an important reminder that the rest of the year away from the ceremonies and the cameras and many. facing personal challenges but by and large go on to serve our. other international news now in venezuela the opposition candidate here hugo chavez in the country's last election in october. has announced he will run for the presidency next month the forty year old will face off against president nicolas maduro picked by chavez to succeed him the announcement has already sparked

a war of words between the two politicians recent polls give the socialist a comfortable lead in the run up to the election. police have gone on strike in a number of cities across egypt demanding better weapons and accusing the government of using them as political pawns a third of provinces in the country have been hit by the strike including portside more than fifty people have died in clashes over the last few months human rights activists claim police in egypt have committed widespread abuses including torture claims denied by the torah takes. the presidents of pakistan and iran have reiterate. commitment to open a gas pipeline between the two countries despite american opposition to the plan the pipe only is right iranian side is complete wells work on the pakistan section apparently costing one and a half billion dollars it is yet to begin pakistan says it needs the links to fulfil its energy needs but the us has criticised the plan saying it could go

against sanctioning sanctions in place against iran. and an afghan police officer has started a fire fight that left two u.s. troops and three local offices dead in a police station in eastern afghanistan the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack comes a day after american special forces were expected to have left the province under a plan by president hamid karzai coming up after the break crosstalk on whether n.g.o.s can really be considered non-governmental and what purpose they release. the month before the oscars and what annoys you with their predictions and the most

after everyone complains about the results but it is a big talked about much as the few hundred people who gathered to protest the glamour filled award show what part does the u.s. . well although the film life of pi won the oscar for best visual effects effects to you that made the movie look so amazing were the men hughes has filed for bankruptcy quickly after the film's release you know that seems like a bit of a discrepancy i mean the group that made the best visual effects in the world in two thousand and thirteen is flat broke how can that be this reminds me of how the lead creators of call of duty modern warfare two were let go directly after the release of the game which to date is the eighth highest grossing video game of all time this was done supposedly to dodge paying them the royalties that they you know earned through hard work the problem is that we live in a world where only the bottom line count making as much profit as you possibly can damn the consequences it's just good business practice they say well it might be profitable but it's bad for society and it's very bad for visual effects and

videogame artists but that's just my opinion. hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle non-governmental organizations or n.g.o.s what purpose do they serve today and are they politicised can n.g.o.s really be called non-governmental if it receives money from governments and what about the donors are they disinterested parties. do cross talk n.g.o.s i'm joined by david rieff in new york he is a writer and senior fellow at the world policy institute and in pittsburgh we cross

to clifford bob he is a political science professor and became university and author of the new book the global right wing all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want david if i'm going to you want to people say today that n.g.o.s are over politicized honey you come down on that. i think everything is political so from a you know this doesn't come as a kind of shock horror of all lation that n.g.o.s are political i think the more interesting question would be what kind of politics they represent and whether you can say that and geopolitics have right wing or left wing to the extent those. those categorizations still mean anything cast to them you know polish human rights is a politics the u.n. charter is a politics so the idea that we're going to be suddenly shocked that the ngos are not perfectly neutral perfectly objective that seems to me that really does seem to

me a little bit of posturing on the part of perhaps also governments that don't like n.g.o.s but also perhaps on the part of one ngo wishing to discredit another and you're ok cliff where do you come out on this it's very interesting what we just heard right i would generally agree with what david has said i think see n.g.o.s as basically the equivalent of lobbying groups domestically and they do clearly have political agendas even if they may not like to put put it quite in that form even something as supposedly neutral as human rights i agree is a political issue highly political and in fact i'd say that trying to portray yourself as nonpolitical in the case of an ngo often is a political strategy in and of itself likewise i'd say that many governments who might not like the activities of particular and she owes will again call them political as a way to try to discredit them and to.