origin. stories others refused to notice. faces changing the walls of lights never. the full picture of today's news. on demand from around the globe. up to. fifty. spitzbergen is the starting point for expeditions to the north pole a little over a thousand kilometers away. there's next to no sunlight each day was little light remains continues to dim. in just ten days the sun will stop rising above the horizon altogether. along ought to know it will begin.

like it is on the mainland in the middle of the night. it's just. starves. the locals say there are three four seasons here day night and snowmobile season. people on the island because of the harsh environment but a very small few have chosen to live here. yes. just. be careful.

to. go. to great at the norwegian town of. special ceremony. for many years ago was declared terra nullus all belong to nobody it wasn't until nine hundred twenty that the islands became norwegian territory. but even today they enjoy a unique status. in any country that signed the spitzbergen treaty can freely and gauge in commercial activity here no visa or is needed to visit the island and there are no customs or border posts anyone on the planet can come and settle on the occupier to go there's just one condition they must be self-sufficient. in some. places so special because a lot of people came here and they really didn't know all right or really are

because i think ok and already are closer to north korea. and other people all it's a friendly and old scooters and everything about. hundred times the better change for a faster. this is could be very bad. if you're lucky. about two cells and five hundred people live on the island but knowing the number of beds is more of a challenge there are at least three thousand certainly more than the wrong people . you know. i don't like the oh just your three. oh if you're going to write home for. everyone. you. have you come a little over. hiring

a rifle here is as easy as hiring a scooter but if a bag gets shot the investigation into whether it was really killed in self defense is a sorrow as it would be from a. bill and is indeed an unusual place shops provide special lockers where customers can store their guns while shopping and while deer amble freely in the streets. there is a distinct russian spirit in this small norwegian tell'd only two countries currently maintain a presence on the island russia and norway. this is the reason why the american i hear that are. going to grow up. because they have a russian. yeah let me thank you these people took an interest in the russian language for a reason they often visit the town of balanced budget for decades the neighboring

towns have shared visits for sporting events. we may be different in many aspects but i'm sure everyone's happy to have a neighbor pool you see there are no other neighbors around here. and we've had a lot of enjoyable meetings in baron's burg. you're leaving for work yes you have a regular working day of course not it's a holiday today a holiday there are no holidays in the mind two years ago came to spitzbergen alone to see how it would work out. many people can't bear being separated from their relatives in your town is not everyone manages to move their families here. you can

not everyone can cope with the atmosphere in this arctic night. he left his wife and three children at home. we didn't feel anything for the first six months. then mum started missing dad. and so did we. well he wasn't there we could only talk on skype he had to call me every day as soon as he was home from work. knowing that he was safely back from the mine was the most important thing for me. two months ago the doable family at last moved to balance berg. i'd like to spend at least ten years here and i want to settle properly and save enough money to buy flats for my kids. i do your homework yet a bit. i

haven't seen you for ages so does it feel better having a family with you or do you need to ask you must feel more like real man yes. in the past barrens but was always a male domain not a place for women with children. men still account for the majority of the population. there are no old or socially disadvantaged people here. every inhabitant of the island has to be young and healthy enough to be able to work because. my grandfather worked here and nine hundred fifty six such as he spends two years on this island and dad always dreamed of going where his own father had worked. came in two thousand and eight with my mom and in two thousand and nine my wife and i came here to you know i think that i'm the head of the

tourist agency and the hotel administrator that's part of my job description. although it's my wife's job to deal with the mail that rests on my shoulders too. difficult so why not during tourist season i also work as a guide. you know and when we have excursions i work in the souvenir shop in the morning i teach english at the local school which is why i'm not in the office. there's only one employer in. coal is a russian state owned company everything in the village shops and canteen old belong to the. people can only get tibetans but once every two months. both cooks they decide to change after a wedding anniversary stephanie has brought her two children to be with her husband

. that's come alone. her husband that's a first. year ago another woman came on her own she left pretty soon though. she was an accountant. usually it's the other way around. well after their husbands men try to find jobs for their wives on the island missed the. new arrivals go there beside the personnel department.

brings her children with her. there's no one else to babysit because everyone is at work. also owns a productive mine the parents. everyone has to attend a briefing when they first get here. there is going to work. she'll start as soon as her children are going to kindergarten but first we have to get used to the new home. movies in britain the kids started whimpering and i decided to leave so we wouldn't disturb anyone. it's always dark outside so i'm constantly sleepy and my eyes hurt but i'll get used to it. other people cope somehow so will i will wait for the light i hope will settle here well like the place. now the main thing is for the kids to

adapt to the climate and be healthy. the first contract is usually for six months the second for two years on average people have spent four to five years in barren spoke but there seems to be changing workers or nell spending longer periods of time here printing furnished apartments and so the arctic cold trust is renovating many of the houses and was there a t.v. set yes so there it's so nice just great. to see and everyone likes this place it's nice and tidy. new residents meet up at the home supply store everyone has a long shopping list. because as a small pan. a bucket. i think our first two

paychecks will be spent entirely on the household number one two and the third one as well there's no cash on balance bug in two thousand and eleven there was an attempt to introduce a local currency called the bone but norwegians were unhappy about the idea of bank notes. and soil with the russian federation printed on them. it's rumored that to avoid conflict the governments decided not to use any money at all. the normal bank cards don't work here either the shops only accept a special internal card which is given to all of coles employees everyone sets their own credit limit and the balance is eventually deducted from salaries. it's easy squire laying money away because there is nothing to spend it on no rest trends or days cuz i'm sure that if we do you manage to leave here for some time it

will be closer to each other so this just goes to show that my uncle told me about people living their husbands and wives for other men and women. it must be an island of temptation here. why is the price of gold so high. demand global demand do you think gold is money. the value of the only plays we have to live of the water that we need to survive it's not compared to gold i mean gold we're not going to eat gold we're not going to bait with gold. we're not going to drink what clearly what amal is and is in a desperate economic situation absolutely right what we're wrong to do is say therefore any kind of economic development from the outside is going to be

a benefit their only purpose is to extract as much money as possible to feed into the global financial system. with we're a part of the geo political economic system that's extremely exploited or. first of all is a question where the mining should even be carried out altogether can it be done in a way which doesn't destroy people's lives resources environment will you know those are pretty serious questions mining is not what a moment from it's happening in asia in africa and south america in central america in mexico and it's even happening in canada and the united states. on their way to antarctica the crew of the i can to make sure that if face many

challenges. here you have to look out for yourself crashing onto rocks trapped in pack ice in extreme conditions anything can happen antarctica always comes up with surprises you have to keep your eyes open because if there's always something going wrong the ship carries huge reserves of water food fuel as well as helicopters and people able to survive extreme conditions they're ready for anything even an apocalypse she's really an incredible ship calling all antarctica stations this is academic a field that of radio check please respond. go

to kindergarten my daughter asks me it's still dark where we going it will always be dark now i tell her the sun has gone to sleep she says i want to go home i don't want to live by the sea she thought it would be warm and sunny. through no four hundred thirty people in bennett's book including a hundred and thirty women and fifty five children no one is ever born on the island it's against the rules for pregnant women must return to the middle of. spitzbergen children never catch colds the virus comes survive here. it's only the newly arrived to bring infections to the island. that's why children are always quarantined for their first ten days when they can't go to school or. sometimes though children just can't adjust to the climate. their parents either have to send

them away or leave them for good it's too cold to go outside so the kids wrap up the play in an unheated hall where they can exercise without being exposed to the elements even though the temperature is almost the same as outside the kids are protected from the biting optic wind. ok see self down ok well. thank.

you again heavy you know i am not. the only. and his brother is in the first year but all the students sit together in one classroom irrespective of age. the teacher gives each student individual assignments and then checks them separately. after classes the children stay in school there's nowhere else to go and the teachers always try hard to find new ways to entertain them. you know. it was useless i realised why running small difficult here is the ad pressure on the island is higher than on the mainland and it's not difficult to brief. you were still sometimes i ask myself if a normal life would make it easier for him in the future when. i still don't really

know. i'm not sure if we've made the right choice. although the spitsbergen coal reserves are being depleted to continue mining is a matter of principle a presence on the go is a political imperative for both russia and norway. the mind works around the clock so the adults work in shifts they often leave as early as six in the morning leaving dunhill to wake the younger kids. but also when the alarm clock goes off. i wake marine or in the silly they want to stay in bed we're going to still duck live where we go and they ask. well i brush merriness

teeth i mean obviously does his own. style you can i put the kettle on and dress them. more when i grow up i'll move to the mainland and go to university. all. i want to be an interpreter. to make good money. is not always good to know a foreign language. the most important event in autumn is the sports competition. people from the norwegian to. visit the russian to attend. it's a tradition that dates back many years some say it began as early as the nine hundred thirty s. when both norway and the then soviet union was still new to the occupy.

the norwegians told their neighbors their traditional game called. we never even seen a stick before when we started playing we didn't know the rules and we were constantly asking questions now we've got the hang of it and how one wants. about this team. but i think we're on equal ground we're good at volleyball and always win a basketball we're about even in football and as for chess we've got a new player who will bring us victory. all the competitions held symbol to flee.

winning is a matter of both countries especially when it comes to football and bundy. only twice in the competition's history as the better to be from the norwegians at the national game. the second time was last year but fortune wasn't to smile on them this time. the football had the fans on the edge of their seats with the team's neck and neck. as though the russians proved victorious. the last two games. and they played with and walnuts as well. there's my boy. did you know the done he did clever boy.

surprisingly the basketball game is the most dramatic. the norwegians are less than happy with the referee and one spectator is quite indignant. i wonder how much they'll. do we need a ref at all no referee you can do without a raf while you referee let him do it while you do it let him referee give him a whistle. go over there. there'll be two of you go on. to referees take to the court. the people of spitzbergen do know how to compromise. than forty different ethnicities living together on the island no more than life demands tolerance and cooperation if it's to be survived. thank you.

right. the sporting event is one of the very few opportunities people have to socialize and meet up specially during the long arctic night. you work here. and you just visit. working often. just so mike ok in table tennis are football. ok yeah. it was good but you got one. making ambitious plans to

develop its own tourist industry. the abandoned mining town. will be home to the new russian tourists and. and there's no people there so it's kind of like a ghost town there was one guy named toby if. you try to go for a hike. it took him by two weeks and have had to get. picked up by a fisherman because you have no more food left so i think you should only do it if you have a yeah. but it can only be reached in daylight and the devil is already of. the for when the polar ends and the snowmobile season begins the archipelagos russians will be teeming with people her.

tourists there's this they like watching us locals picking up the kids from school the guide probably tells them where the natives. that if we have to say hi and smile we'd go to work or come home shopping or just walk and they're gone yeah that's it we stay right back. but that won't happen until the poland and the northern sun has risen again. for now people only venture away from the settlement for emergencies perhaps to repair vital and hard to reach equipment no one leaves the village without a very good reason. that usually people only leave the village to admired the beauty of spitzbergen aren't like what can be seen at night for nothing . there's absolutely nothing to see. during the long polar night

the residents tend to live ordinary workaday lives. new arrivals are given time to get their bearings but today is oldest first day at work. i was anxious. to do everything on time. but i managed it fine the husband and he starts work tomorrow he's here and will to support his wife we're going to spend at least two years here but we'll have to see how it goes to here is a long time maybe six months will do it. before starting to work independently they will shadow a colleague for a few days. i have a boyfriend. but i'm not sure she'll come here.

stephanie children couldn't started kindergarten because one of them has a cold only time will tell if he can cope with the climate or walk out. larry may behave. well i don't like it and tomorrow you go to kindergarten yes. and let's proceed see if you. just. that the weather is awful look how strong the wind is and it's so dark. and it will stay. until the next day begins.

unexplored and talk to go what is it in this icy expanse that attracts the people who come here. the moment now i only go to the duchess. and enter into. a new generation of polar explorers is coming. we have a new group of specialists here now all of them are young how are they going to get along with each other and i don't know. who. i used to be a bureaucrat. seriously. what adventures await in this mysterious land where they live what to eat and want to be actually doing it and talk to.

millions around the globe who struggle with hunger each good. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge they carry said they can the very strong position against g.m.o. and we think that's. the genetic anymore the right products are priest to tool out there is no. evidence to this any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in the most trash i don't believe that i destroyed four and that three. and a primary market is profit not. for social justice golden rice monarchy.

president putin rewrites his new year address pledging to fight terrorists until they are fully defeated following two suicide blasts in volgograd which claimed thirty four lives. also the machines are watching the n.s.a. is reportedly intercepting laptops purchased online to install spying malware before they reach their destination. and your revelations break through some protests edward snowden spy scandal a long awaited nuclear deal with iran global rallies against g.m. food and fracking we'll look at the stories that shaped twenty thirty.