night and snowmobile season. there are no indigenous people on the island because of the harsh environment but a very small few have chosen to live here. we go home yes. legs a frozen just. be careful. in mid november the arctic night descends on the archipelago. to great at the norwegian town of longyearbyen is a special ceremony. for many years ago was declared terra

nullus all then 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 archipelago there's just one condition they must be self-sufficient. this. place is so special because. well little people came here and they really didn't know we had a really are because i think ok and already are closer to north pole yes you know. a lot of people go all out and have a friendly and old scooters and everything about. time to time a bit of change. like.

this era it 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 fields and certainly more than the wrong people. you know. i don't like to call my own i'm just here if you. let me disagree here right well it's a very right i'm sure. everyone. here have you come to that all 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 their presence on the island russia and norway. this is a reason why i go back and i hear them that are. going pro or because they have a russian. roulette if that 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. often how 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. is not everyone manages to move their families here. you could 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 duble family at last moved to barents 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. but. i haven't seen you for ages so doesn't feel better having a family with you like or do you need to ask you must feel more like a 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 spent two years on this island and dad always dreamed of going where his own father had worked at the show came in two thousand and eight with my mom at the show 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. some of them was just 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 better. cold is a russian state owned company everything in the village the houses 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 . has 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. new arrivals gather beside the personal department stephanie 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. but 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 balance back 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 loves 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. 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 budget 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 circulating on soil with the russian federation printed on them. it's rumored that to avoid conflict the government decided not to use any money at all the normal bank aabs 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 balances of bench only deducted from salaries. it's easy squiring 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 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.

come. to. her. if you leave with the economic ups and downs in the final months day the longer the deal sang i and the rest the life during the case you will be everything we can all claim the law. dramas are trying to be ignored to the. stories others refuse to notice. the food since changing the world lights never. grow. our food picture of today's leaves close to home to

from around the globe. local. t.v. . such a pall mall the twenty fourth jena olympics what's this place like enron is is so special as the russian resort prepares to welcome the world power the games shaping the city's present and future what more sochi will bring yet this is the moment everybody from a very cold and snowy windy mountainous stuff yet beyond the olympics but once a. day on our team. go to kindergarten my daughter asks me does number it's still duck will be 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 until four hundred thirty people in bennett's book including a hundred and thirty women and fifty five children no one is born on the island it's against the rules that pregnant women must return to the mainland. 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 can to go to. sometimes though children just come to adjust to the climate. their parents either have to send them away or leave the island for good. it's too cold to go outside so

the kids wrap up to play in an unheated hole 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 yourself down ok well. thank. you again heavy you know i'm not.

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 what the ad pressure on the island is higher than on the mainland and it's not difficult to brief. you the worst of them all but you sometimes i ask myself if a normal life would make it easier for him in the future. 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. bush marina's teeth i mean obviously does his own.

style you can i put the kettle on and dress them. for 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. but it's always good to know a foreign language. the most important event in autumn is the and he will 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 the nine hundred thirty s. when both norway and the 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 how one wants. this. but i think we're on equal ground we're good at volleyball and always win at 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 are 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. 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. i lost two games. and i 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 there is quite indignant. among them. do we need a ref at all no referee you can do without a raf while you are afraid let him do it while you do it but 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. and forty different ethnicities living together on the island. northern 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 me to especially during the long arctic night. you work here. and you just if it. were going off. it's all my good ok in table time in our football well ok. it was good but you got one. better making ambitious plans to develop its own tourist industry. the abandoned mining town. will be home to the new russian tourists. and there are no people there so it's kind of like

a ghost town there was one guy named toby. he tried to go for a hike so. it took him by two weeks and he had 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 and 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. will know that if we have to say

hi and smile we 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 watching the sea 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 olga's first day at work. i was anxious if. you do everything on time. but i managed it's fine the husband only 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 there 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 i want.

larry may behave. like yelled i don't like it and some are you go to kindergarten no 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.

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 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 but this is academic a field that of radio check please respond. he survived war atrocities. to make

a final decision. has changed his life and the world around him. by giving. hope. and love to so many children. nikolai the miracle worker on our team. if you. need to. start to construct your own. want to be a bit. don't want to be gangstas you don't want to be. they don't want that blow with the time that the kid came to be we can see. you just needs

a job that i was like oh probably good. thirty round clip. bad . i don't want to die i just really do not want to die young young a. sixteen percent imports came from illegal fishing. the european union is ironically taking fish from some of the poorest nations on earth so this is a very serious and very urgent problem that needs immediate international action. on foot they enter our territorial waters they fish they load the fish on to the ships and leave for europe. to day illegal fishing is taking the bread out of our mouths.

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

today's news and this week's top stories on r.t. the southern russian city of volgograd mourns the thirty four victims of two terror attacks with dozens still in hospital brings you the story of the youngest survivor a three month old baby still clings to life after losing her mother and little. french military contingent fails to stem or wave of bloodshed that's gripped the central african republic with the u.n. now raising the alarm of a looming humanitarian crisis that. the situation is out of control in the coffin and of the central african republic is not capable to control this fight talks to medical group doctors without borders about the carnage ravaging the state is even hospitals and doctors now become tague.