u.k. faces a loyalty test in the falklands referendum exacerbating the standoff with argentina open and now boyle. is on hand to new clear sentiment gets stronger in japan is the country marks the anniversary of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters with many unsatisfied the speed of the clean up operation. and a hostage drama resolved in syria ukrainian journalist kidnapped by rebels has escaped after being held the threat of death hanging over him for almost six months.

i welcome you watching r.t. coming to you live from moscow with me and. the disputed falkland islands are voting in a second day of a referendum on whether or not to remain a british territory but an all pro british sentiment among many islanders leaves little doubt as to the outcome while argentina who still lay claim to the islands have called the vote a sham artie's polly boyko reports on the toxic mix of nationalism politics and oil . 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's speculation surrounding how much oil

there is an estimated sixty billion barrels of oil potentially to be found in the falklands 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 argentinean 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's eight thousand miles

away i suppose the argument one could have added to that is economically sustainable said he wore ships and so on and so forth but of course the oil rather changes all right but it only changes if you believe it's morally justifiable to go on what 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 and. 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 as a bloc 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.

their source 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 as well it may be but you 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 the cheating 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 melvina whichever you call them. well an r.t. dot com we're asking you what you think argentina's next step will be if falkland islanders decide to stay british and this is how the voting stands at the moment

forty percent of you say that argentina will declare the vote rigged or illegitimate slightly fewer there think four hundred fourteen dollars will be told to move to britain by their south american neighbor around fifteen percent expect argentina to announce a new referendum in five years while just eight percent believe one is aries will finally back off from its claim the still time to tell us what you think and you can cast your vote is 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 mentos 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's two years now since the tragedy which triggered the world's worst atomic disaster in twenty five years the fukushima

plant saw 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 had 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 people we spoke to have a great distrust for the government they don't at that time they don't feel that they were getting all of the information that they needed to 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 the nuclear tragedy also sparked massive protests all over the globe

against the use of atomic energy tom barton investigates if the world is ready to wean itself off 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 nuclear 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 that gap. and you can learn more about how japan is fixing the consequences of the fukushima tragedy on r.t. dot com as well as read expert opinions on the country's nuclear future.

is to leave. immediately. now after almost six months in rebel captivity ukrainian journalist working in syria has escaped and is reportedly on her way to damascus become to his work threatening to kill her unless they got a fifty million dollar ransom lot easier than the glue she joins us now with the details that it sounds like in iran this ordeal what do we know so far about the june this concert. well you know so far is coming from up on her question was husband who has contacted r.t.m. and or and that his wife seems to have escaped captivity she has it seems that she

has made a post on her live journal all blogs saying that she that she is back and more details are to follow but at the moment her phone so used to be turned off so there is no any way to thirty five that information that's all we know it does seem like she has managed to get out of the grips of the free syrian army rebels who have been holding her hostage since october of last year and demanding doubt ostentatious to a ransom of fifty million dollars from the ukrainian government on her fortune as a journalist a russian ukrainian journalist who has been living and working in syria for quite some time and she has proven very critical of their syrian rebels of the hour. position in general and she has been active in showing her support for. the syrian president bashar assad and that has not fallen has that has not gone down really well with the rebels who seem to have blamed her for. the for producing a report so which focused primarily on the crimes or acts that commit to death by

the rebels. but we do know that one of the syrian opposition a disease in moscow at the moment has the been any response to told any state. well he was meeting with russia's minister of foreign affairs a gay lover offend a semi monk some of the issues which the two have discussed were was the issue of the history of rebels receiving help from us some of the western countries the training of more to be more specific in fact there have been reports in western media very recently about u.k. france and the united states military personnel training some of this to syria and everybody forces are in jordan and other countries primarily training them to use anti-tank weapons and this sort of training according to this a member of the syrian opposition is something that is only is only making this

syrian crisis worse in an interview to parties arabic channels he has made that statement. to do with 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 seen opposition representatives who respect international humanitarian law and the basic constitutional principles that unite us the syrians. actions aren't based on religious beliefs or malicious murders there's my book. an 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 when a couple have said 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 a government which is going to be formed in istanbul and it is considered to control so-called free districts mostly not you have. 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 if they don't have any political modesty the

correct way of thinking or political experience. now it appears as if god's will is preventing some from going to war among anger among secular jews is growing as the ultra religious are excluded from compulsory military service claiming it is equally important for the country secure its and. choose your language. with. some of.

the consents to. choose the opinions that immigrate to. choose to stories that impact the. chance to access to. science technology innovation called the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. again welcome back now israel is witnessing a widening religious divide with

a difference secular jews who have to do military service claim it is unfair that the ultra religious are excluded from such tutti the latter though say their contribution to the country's security is no less important player 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 to 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've been 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 to thirty now. that something is very unfair that 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. of the backbone of the jewish people i think my obligation first of all is to preserve the jewish intellect and

the jewish mind for r.c. 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 for each 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 day and. 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 is ultra-orthodox the challenge remains how to include it 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. on our website right now claims that hitler wasn't all that bad almost half of austrians polled recently claimed they see some benefits to hitler's nine hundred thirty eight an extension of their country plus also online the high ranking bulgarian priest short selling his pricey road rolex watch to pay church bills was a good deed but his cash congregation think otherwise will tell you why i don't take.

having fought for their country's freedom some world war two veterans in the u.k. and i'm struggling to financially survive or 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 sarah ferguson has the story. i fired a short burst from five hundred feet producing strikes on the border and a dull flame appeared soon it began to dive steeply exploding into the ground these other 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 mementos 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. you know this this is what he. 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 that is it is the money will go a long way to paying for their father's treatment the ice and tell the remarkable story of a 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. short absolutely true never really because you only have room for the engines hoping that mobilize will be so. pleased to see. a parachute mode. 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. and he looks. there's that recognition that it's part of his life of all of the. people. 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 in order to pay for their care that's that's the hardest

thing british but trying to do receive a tax free pension that was 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 their 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. for their country but in a nation where everything on war for the only added to the number of leading brown story is an important reminder to the rest of the year away from the ceremony and

the cameras many. facing personal challenges by and large go on to serve our. other news now from around the world in venezuela the opposition candidate who lost to hugo chavez in the country's last election in october. has announced he will run for the presidency next month the fourteen year old girl faced off against president nicolas maduro by chavez to succeed him the management 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 in egypt have ended a strike in giving authorities ten days to call for more powerful weapons a third of provinces in the country have been hit by the strike including portside where more than fifty people have died in clashes over the last few months this is

the country's top prosecutor has called on civilians to arrest people they see committing crimes raising concerns vigilante groups could take security into their own hands. pakistan and iran have reiterated their commitment to open a gas pipeline between the two countries despite american opposition to the plan the pipe on the iranian side is complete work on pakistan section apparently costing one and a half billion dollars and yet to begin pakistan says it needs the lane its affiliates and us has criticised the plan saying it could go against sanctions in place against iran. and the suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives at the police station two hundred kilometers north of the iraqi capital killing five people and wounding thirty six officials say two policemen and three civilians are among the dead some of the wounded are thought to be students from a nearby school no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

here an r.t. the sporting highlights with richard. 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 that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry was a big. download the official r.t. application so choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites from

our touch if you're away from your television well it just doesn't matter but with your mobile device you can watch r t any time anyway. hello and welcome to be on t.v. sports show with me richard well over the next half hour we'll bring you all the news from russia and abroad is going to get through so let's start with the

headlines. country debut the euro strides free times to leave the scoring chances would be tearing forty one. states that had a bungee in champions unique. we won more russian ice dancers you. give me three to love you all around to follow up a recent european sixpence with a good performance of the world figure skating championships in canada. and we look at the russian team motorsports of a new were destroyed as some lows made the podium supersport race of the season in australia. will start with football on your. sponsored moscow korea after a sizzling science has a red and white spiteri free one in the first game of the winter break. when five points clear of its all falling into no victory and create a soviet of well with more on all the action from week twenty. i

was after a three month winter break finally the russian premier league regime and and university on how to sponsor debut to remember scoring three times in spot x. three one win against tatic getting his first after just two minutes his second was an absolute cracka out he went on a mazy run before the ball fell to the armenian international who rifled an unstoppable shot from distance leaving the keeper with no chance imo sissy on completing his hat trick fifteen minutes from time with a small left footed finish terek did pull one back later on but spots easily held on and are now fourth in the table i was meanwhile says come must go stay top of the russian premier league off the beaten curtis of itself to nail. him opening the scoring off to getting on the end of alan's corner and that bad mussa made the.