b.p. a wins the right to drilling greenland's free steen eyes after promising it will be careful but activists are unconvinced pointing to the gulf of mexico disaster and the burros checkered past as warnings of what's to come. a security collapse in iraq worsens a wave of bombings killing twenty people in the capital as an al qaeda offshoot exploits the dire situation to gain control over the city of fallujah. and britain's pm threatens to take on the e.u. over cutting welfare to immigrants but critics say it's a cynical move to lure voters back from the right.

to moscow you watching r t international with me wearing a josh welcome to the program. now greenland has decided to open up one of the world's most pristine and dangerous environments to oil drilling and environment so one forgiving in fact that manny international oil giant have shied away from getting involved because of the potential risks but not b.p. the company responsible for turning the gulf of mexico into an ecological catastrophe nearly four years ago has been given drilling riots in eastern greenland greenpeace says eggers believe firmly with such a patchy history could be allowed to work in such a fragile region i suggest the reports of why the country's shifted its environment first. british petroleum has been denied any drilling licenses in the united states for more than a year now the deepwater horizon spill taking its toll on the company's reputation but this mattered little to the new government in greenland drilling and all

exploration off the western coast of the country particularly from the bay has already been underway for some time by the likes of shell chevron and exxon mobil but b.p. and its partners will now explore the concession in the north east which amounts to thousands of square kilometers some believe there may be a huge reserve of oil there up to one hundred ten billion barrels potentially the largest in the whole of the arctic the decision of greenland leadership is a complete u. turn from what it said only nine months ago when a moratorium on any for the drilling was imposed due to environmental concerns the latest move is understood to be tightly connected with greenland for independence from denmark but clearly it's the black gold which could make greenland both economically and politically independent and the government is happy to have more international oil giants on board to boost these ambitions however not everyone is a thrill to colleges have already bloss that the move pointing a checkered record describing the arctic environment as a very fragile they say that even a minor oil spill in the crystal clear waters of greenland could cause

a major disaster b.p. officials say they will take several years to carefully prepare for the challenging exploration work given the intensity of environmentalists criticism it's almost guaranteed that this period will be marked by the protests of those opposed to any drilling in the arctic. now for being here these past few years have not been kind of want to comes to it's track record in two thousand and five fifteen people died almost two hundred were injured in an explosion at a b.p. texas refinery the company admits ignored safety procedures a year later leaks at an alaskan oil field spilled almost a million tonnes of crude into the landscape in two thousand and ten the deepwater horizon rig exploded sparking the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history and doing incalculable damage to livelihoods and the environment in general finally a year later thousands of tons of chemicals and a mix of water and oil were spilled one a pipeline burst and another alaskan oil field this track record was of special

concern to greenpeace is arctic campaigner who we spoke to and he told us that greenland should think twice. it's very important that the green and the government and the greenlandic population is aware that the risks that they're taking have been moments of consequences but also have a spill happens when a spill happens have massive consequences for for example the fish resect saying greenland it is just too big a risk to take and the conditions are extremely harsh. on collision course almost on a daily basis when we can scottish oil company that exploration drilling spot in two thousand and eleven they have to show what we are around two hundred icebergs period of just a couple of months because they were on a collision course with the oil rig if one of these all these birds on sort of way and actually hits it hits the oil rig there will of course be environmental consequences and at the same time the snow technology to clean up. whether it's

because the cold means that you will have to remove all the all the oil manually there will be no not true degrade asian and you won't be able to use technologies in monuments like the greenlandic ones. and it looks like hard up italian fashionistas are turning from designer to discount there just isn't the cash to splash on a high and homegrown couture layer would tell you why it made in china label as in this season. and also we take you to their cat sanctuary in sochi as we continue our tour of the winter olympics host city. i mean a wave of bombings has ripped through commercial districts of their iraqi capital killing at least twenty people that as that country's bloodless army could be preparing to attack and recapture fallujah after an al qaida wing group gained a foothold there are just fall asleep has more is not the elements with al qaeda links have overrun the iraqi cities of ramadi and thousands of residents of me

these areas as government forces know want a strikes and fight. there are to be shells the iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki has volved that government forces will not leave this area until all these extremist elements are to quote him eliminated but he does admit that for now the government has lost control in these cities in recent days the militants received a boost as they were joined in the fight against the baghdad government by sunni tribesmen and what is interesting is that it marks a change from the years prior to the u.s. withdrawal when major sunni tribes turned against al qaeda what we witnessing now is that they join forces with these al-qaeda groups against the shiite led government now the american administration has been slammed for creating the situation there are many who predicted that once the u.s. forces withdrew from iraq they would be a vacuum that would be created and that this would be fulled with extremist

elements the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has promised support for the baghdad government that he has ruled out the possibility of boots on the ground he has said that the u.s. would not send troops back to that country to quote kerry he says that this fight is the fight of the baghdad government iran has also said that it is prepared to me and military support to the baghdad government while in neighboring syria the al qaida fighters who are embattled with the syrian president bashar assad in recent months have been gaining ground and gaining strength now. during the u.s. led campaign and he thinks the dire security was the navigable result. i've come a long way since my time an illusion in two thousand and four and been able to step back and you know i've been involved in a lot of various efforts here in the united states to help veterans out with p.t.s.d. and things like best i guess it's as if it's incredible to see you know

a lot of the projections that those of us who understood what the war was about at least figured out and we got home coming true now because when you understand the nature of war as a racket you want to stand the true motivations behind the united states invasion occupation when you understand what kind of puppet government was installed in iraq your standard it was really only a matter of time before this happened. iraq you were some homage to our says the country's prime minister and his cabinet have completely failed to save the country from ruin the hasn't been able to stop terrorist acts which is the taking the lives of the civilians involved that he is now accusing the guy there which is someone else that being the one who is causing it he is the government that is totally incapable of controlling she didn't buy that did south except that the people that are being put and very tight slot because the government is

allowing people to go out beating anybody who comes out in the street even raising their voices this is really a tragedy. and on our website where we're running a project dedicated to keeping tally of the violence in iraq especially the human cost also there and read up on a former u.s. commanders dire predictions for afghanistan's future. here's down the hotly contested helmand province could fall to the taliban this year from where they could challenge the authority of kabul. google glass already needs to look sharp and other u.s. companies on the field contact lenses powered with nano technology which could revolutionize the wearable computer market. and mirrors rumors abound that the governor of new york is about to allow more and juana in the medical system bad to on our website or to dot com. now a look at david cameron's politicking over immigration and our report of italy's

shift from domestic fashion labels to chinese designs after the break to stay with us. crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in any time you want.

well see british scientists are. right let's go. to. the market why not the so. why not what's really happening to the global economy with max cancer are no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into the report.

welcome back to watching r t international britain's prime minister wants the country to stand up to the e.u. and demand the right to stop paying child welfare to new arrivals from abroad was families are overseas david cameron's critics say he's scrounging for popular support as voters increasingly look further and further right way when it comes to immigration and i spoke a little earlier towards her for us in london. he indicated over the weekend britain may seek a cap on the migrants saying that the u.k. also needs to look carefully at the way the migrants can claim benefits and this is doing an interview the b.b.c.'s andrew marr show on sunday and the prime minister.

with. opposition in. whether tougher measures can be had than we currently have and when he was asked whether he meant a cap on migrants he said that all options were on the table knows he said this is part of these wider plans that the prime minister has to renegotiate britain's relationship with europe and the prime minister insisting that he's already made progress on those renegotiation plans he came under some ridicule on twitter from the ukip leader nigel farage she said david cameron seems to be trying to sound like me the difference is that i believe what they say now of course that might cause some confusion amongst the public and it's felt by many that the conservative party line on immigration has been somewhat confused because you've had the borders opening up garia romania at the beginning of the year and so possibly a bit of confusion over the prime minister's strong words over what his plans for

the future are with that renegotiation and of course the big question is because you've got a huge couple of years coming up you've got local elections this year you've got the general election in twenty fifty and the big question remains as to whether the e.u. would accept these terms of renegotiation and a lot of people feel that quite simply that won't be acceptable to the other members of the now for its part the u.k. independence party says any changes to on european immigration by david cameron will be nipped in the bar by the. unfortunately he's desperately struggling to find a political solution to the problems of immigration where he is losing in the polls and he is now seeing the labor party's leader also beginning to try and find solutions to the problem of immigration we've had mass open door integration in the united kingdom over the past decade it's had problems on schools hospitals infrastructure and pushing down wages in the country that is why he is struggling

the only clear solution is to get your control of your borders back in order to do that you have to leave the european union if he wants to make the changes that he suggested he has to actually get treaty changes and agreement from all the countries and they've already had the european commission in the form of barroso they said that won't happen now leopards might not be the first thing to spring to mind when you think of the winter olympics but these big cats are a symbol for sochi twenty fourteen for a reason the area is home to the endangered creatures who are fighting tooth and claw to survive by what stays in sochi to find out what's being done to help still be hunters resourceful scavengers persian let the smallest local wild can one stop these mountains in the caucuses. now these full of three elusive and skillful needed to be introduced to their natural habited after fifty years thanks to the

caucuses nature reserve leppert center it's part of a program linked to this g twenty four team lead to gains that aims to preserve and improve the region's wildlife and environment. though the animal has been spotted on the russian caucasus a few times there is no viable leopard population there our program is designed to start the new population of the personal labyrinth in the caucasus mountains and to restore the species in its natural habitat there has been success here two cups born at the national park in july with the first ever born in captivity. their parents have been brought in from lisbon zoo in portugal to two yes for them to get used to their new home and you shut them. the connection wasn't to mediate but it

didn't come and it froze kiss was captured on camera the health of the family will be wanted to using g.p.s. chips well the next twenty years all in all the center now has ten leopards it's hope to this group can lead to a resurgence for the species. the leopards live in a temporary open eight cages in the reserve which i quipped with cameras there observed closely while the adept before being released into the wild their food is pig meat in the cages to shop in out their hunting skills. one cub that wasn't shy about cameras was groom his mother neglected him after he was born now the keepers act as force to parents taking them for walks feeding him and giving him extra love and attention because. now graham he is only six months old he's pretty happy and he will be here making sure that there's more of

him out of this nature pock to bomb with say in so she's a nature park forty that shut you out of the country fourteen olympics what's this for you sliding down the line is so special as the russian resort prepares to welcome the world power the game should be the city's present and future a lot more sochi will bring it this is a moment to everybody from a very cold and snowy windy mountainous stop here beyond the olympics but the bomb what's a. monarch. now italy may be the world's fashion capital but the designers need to look over their padded shoulders at what's coming in from the east chinese fakes are slipping into the country and they're convincing enough to win over cash strapped shoppers it has gone off size up the competition.

on the site for generations of this family have made their living from the textile business italian kashmir silk garden you name it these people have quality clothing in their d.n.a. a high end quality which he were and fewer customers are able to afford now we declared this the people they they are interested in the nice things sir but that they have no money to buy and they go to buy a cheap pair of boots and this is that is also why the. rubbish crowd the junk food the drunken clothes or as the economy struggles to go on this recession in half a century demand for luxury goods among italians is going down but for some the crisis has provided great opportunities just like many other cities across the world rome has its own chinatown as well whole district in the center of the city filled with chinese businesses which go way beyond cities to take out and include

shops or even boutiques and chinese walls which have been spreading all around formal casual sporty every size and style of clothes and footwear are presented here and with a price tag sometimes as much as ten times lower than the competition line to show there is nothing to think about here i'm not going to spend my last cash on that satchel i buy chinese stuff yes they make good cotton clothes sometimes but it was strictly labor for first and here's the punchline these chinese schools are not made in china anymore materials are imported yes but since december here just lieschen allows the maid. it will be stamped on every item something you tell you companies want changed if you need these be. let off this is a broader. war. on quality and not the. quantity but large quantity and low prices prove the profit tactic for the chinese

who poured into the bank of italy channel at least one of the half million dollars out of italy to china. the book has been offered r t. look at some other stories from around the world the opposition syrian national council conference in turkey that it won't take part in talks with president assad government other members of the key western backed coalition are expected to decide on monday whether they'll take part in the geneva two meeting the talks are scheduled for later this month the aim of getting the mannie warring factions in syria to agree to stop fighting after almost three years of violence. there's been a mass protest in the israeli capital by sounds of african migrants angry at a new law that allows the government to spend to say on them to desert jails legislation has been slammed by the un's refugee agency which says it causes hardship and suffering three hundred people have reportedly been arrested since the law was brought in three weeks ago it's thought there are about sixty thousand

african migrants in israel mostly from eritrea and sadam. sorties are planning to move haveour tillery into the capital had a mass opposition rallies planned for next week this as huge numbers of activists marched through the capital keeping up their calls for the prime minister to quit. has already yielded to pressure from the street and planned new elections for family or a bot protesters say that's not enough they want to set up a citizens council to carry out reforms for any new elections are held. and a stampede at a muslim ceremony in northern china has left at least fourteen people dead and many others injured four are critically ill it happened during a traditional religious ceremony as people surged forward as food was being handed out. record low temperatures are set to hit parts of the u.s.

as winter storms continue across the country forecasters say the freeze could hit minus fifty celsius in the midwest and are warning people to stay home extreme weather as claimed the lives of sixteen people this week and grounded thousands of flights and coming up the crosstalk power argue over whether time magazine got a ride or not with its latest choice for person of the year to stay with us. there are many internal battles in society liberals and conservatives will never agree on gun rights or abortion but there is one battle that is often more generational than anything the battle for school uniforms teachers argue that uniforms eliminate a big distraction in the classroom and break up the caste systems that can evolve

at school between the cool fashionable kids and the ones who can barely afford lunch like me in my younger years but teenagers will scream uniforms crush their freedom of expression and that they have a right to express who they are their individuality who has the right to dictate to them what to wear the thing they don't realize is that if the school doesn't tell them what to wear that big corporations and m.t.v. will all the cool individuals who dress alike and blindly follow all the trends are just obeying corporate marketing instead of their parents yeah for some reason it is bad if the school punishes you for dressing improperly but if the cool kids make your life a living hell for not wearing the right brand of shoes well that's all well and good for some reason hey look at it this way school uniforms are cheap which leaves more money for parents to buy you video games being individual in your actions and not a fake individual in trendy clothes but that's just my opinion. compared

to any other big large nationwide institution i would see in the bank is on most free from all those mistakes. significant number of mistakes happen and we try to rectify it we try to put in a system where you can detect any fault any any problem that arises in the system because that does system is computer that just so that you can check that from your head office what's going on in the remote villages and that immigrants as we work could. who would benefit if the single village of my live this is excess to mean bank microcredit program so we have all around the country we have eight and a half million borrowers ninety seven percent of the women are all connected to the system. if you know and you've got no opportunity. to start to construct your own.

kid no learn to be a bit give don't want to be gangsters you don't want to be drug dealers they don't want to blow you know the time the kid came to be we can see. you just made so far as i was in my own problems in the hood. with thirty round clips. i said. i don't want to die i just really do not want to die young young. athletes. hello and welcome across all things considered i'm peter lavelle time magazine's person of the year francis the catholic pontiff according to the managing editor

the pope changed the tone and perceptions of the roman catholic church this may be so but francis also is showing himself to be critical of the global economic order and capitalism is there hope for the church or is francis merely a p.r. product. to cross pope francis i'm joined by my guest jamila bey in washington she is a journey. in public speaker also in washington we have a one hundred chef when he is the president of the at was economic research foundation and in madison we cross to scott rickard he is an expert on catholicism as well as the executive editor of chronicles a magazine of american culture all right crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage encourage it one hundred in washington per person of the year well deserved yes for sure few people have such respect as the pope if you institution as the catholic church

still has so much kristie just so much influence around and around the globe so i'm a middle aged ok jamila are you related that pope francis is time magazine's person of the year it is despairing despairing to me that i've got to support miley cyrus pope francis is a choice for person of the year was absolutely wrong in every measure from time magazine this pope as you put it in your intro so aptly earlier is a product of p.r. he's not this major reformer who's coming in making sweeping changes to benefit the lives of the faithful he has more of the same and unfortunately that's a problem he should not have been picked ok scotland would you differentiate the two because it's very interesting what we've heard already in this program is that i mean it may be very possible that francis is a p.r.

product and you know he's very appealing to a lot of people i mean even i look at the pictures of him embracing a man with severe disfigurement i mean any person who has compassion can say that's a good person doing that as opposed to kind of where is the catholic church because it looks like you can easily separate the two go ahead scott. right it's certainly he certainly is appealing the the the idea though that that he was ever going to come in and change the catholic church in the way that that i think jimmy or some of the editors of time might want. was was wrong from the from the beginning what what he has brought to the catholic church is a change in tone a change in emphasis the time article does pick up on that but it also expresses a sort of hope an expectation that there's going to be some sort of morphed.