it's just black sky and stars. the locals say there are three not four seasons here day night and snowmobile season. the indigenous people on the island because of the harsh environment but a very small few have chosen to live here. we go home yes. the frozen just. be careful. in mid november the arctic night descends on the archipelago. to great at the

norwegian town of longyearbyen organizes a special ceremony. for many years ago was declared terra nullus old 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. any country that signs 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 has just one condition they must be self-sufficient. this. place is so special because. little people came here and they really didn't know we had or really are because i think ok and already are closer to north pole yes you know. all of the people all have

a friend you know and scooters and everything about. one hundred have been saying. like. this era it could be very bad. if you're. about to sell some 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. heart of just you know if you. learn history right well if you're going to write them for. everyone. have you come to the other. firing a rifle here was 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 thought or was it would be from a. deal 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 telling only two countries currently maintain their presence on the island russia and norway. this is the reason why america american i hear it is magic. going to croatia because they have the 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 berg. you're leaving for work yes to 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 in which. 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 but 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. but. i haven't seen you for ages so does it feel better having a family with you life or do you need to ask you must feel more like

a real man yes. in the past baron 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 sick or socially disadvantaged people here. every inhabitant of the island has to be young and healthy enough to be able to work the system home to. my grandfather worked here and nine hundred fifty six so that he spent two years on this island and dad always dreamed of going where his own father had worked at the show he 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. 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 they have to get used to the new home. movies and pretty 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 well 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 a 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 renting 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 you 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 through 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 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 banknotes. 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 and no more bank cards to 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 a 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 sleep my uncle told me about people living their husbands and wives for other men and women. it must be an island of temptation here.

much of your advice is centered around the negative aspects of american culture example mindful eating social inning avoiding of snacks how much of an influence do you think this american culture has on the rest of the was incredible they succeeded two things with me kid and the world the snake and the with the food they invaded all the countries worldwide. showed. the country florida gina lympics was this place like the wind is so

special as the russian resort prepares to welcome the world power the game shaping the city's present and future a lot more sochi will bring you this is a momentary pause you from a very cold and snowy windy mountainous stuff beyond the olympics but come on say today on our team. it was terrible fake and very hard to take a. chance again there was a plan that we ever had sex with that earthquake where nobody's. business.

if. one. of. them would go to kindergarten my daughter asks me it's still dark we're only going to be 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 and 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 and pregnant women must return to the mainland. spitzbergen children never catch colds the virus come 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 and 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 itself down ok well. thank. you again heavy i know i'm not. the only. his brother of a philly 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 would just be add pressure on the island is higher than on the mainland and it's not difficult to brief. you do most of them will be 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 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 where we go and they ask. bush marina's teeth i mean obviously does his own. style you can i put the cattle on and dress them. over 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. is out but it's always good to know a foreign language. the most important event in autumn is the annual 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.

to. 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 are held simple to flee. winning is a matter of both countries especially when it comes to football and bundy. twice in the competitions history as the better team based in the norwegians at the national game. the second time was last year. but fortune wasn't to smile on them

this time. 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 are afraid let him do it while you do it but him referee give him a whistle. don't 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. their laws in forty different ethnicities living together on the island no more than life demands tolerance and cooperation if it's to be survived. thank you. the sporting event is. one of the very few opportunities people have to socialize

and meet up especially during the long night. and you. were. ok. 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 i 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 ends and the snowmobile season begins the archipelagos russian six will be teeming with people or who. would you know tourists used to stay like watching us locals picking up the kids from school the guide probably tells them where the natives used every room that is we have to say hi and smile like 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 polar night ends and the northern sun has recently again. 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 in 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 only starts work tomorrow he's here and will to support his wife we're going to spend at least two years here 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 i 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 was. playing very near 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 days and it's so dark. and it will stay. until the next day begins. some of the sixteen percent of 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. give room for the territorial waters they fish they load the fish on to the ships and leave for europe. to day illegal fishing just taking the bread out of our mouths. least be cool language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the r.p. interviews intriguing stories for you here. in trying. to find out more visit.

compared to any other big large nationwide to institution i would say in the bank is almost free from all those mistakes. in a significant number of mistakes happen and we try to rectify it we try to put a system where you can detect any fault any any problem that the system does system is computer that just so that you can check it from your head office what's going on in the remote villages and that it will branch as we work it all over bangladesh every single village in bangladesh has access to mean bank microcredit program so we have borrowers all around the country we have eight and a half million borrowers ninety seven percent. double women get all connected to the system. live. live

live. live . live. talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want. to. live. little.

bit. of. today's news and the week's top stories here on our t.v. the southern russian city of volgograd bids a final farewell to the thirty four victims of the two terrorist attacks r.t. brings you the story of a three month old survivor whose relatives are torn between hope for her recovery and grief at the loss of her mother. a french military contingent fails to stem a wave of bloodshed that's gripped the central african republic but the u.n. now raising the alarm of a looming humanitarian crisis there. the situation isn't it to be out of control in the financials the central african republic is not capable to control this frightens r.t. talks to the aid group doctors without borders about the carnage ravaging the state will even hospitals and medics become targets. tough economic time.