another centrifugal force throughout the caucasus is religion. unlike most russians, a majority of the people here are muslims. and here, location is key. the caucusus rise on russia's southern borderlands, the northern edge of the islamic world. today, muslims here construct many new mosques. despite the violence in chechnya, islam, like dagestan, is multifaceted. when they go to a mosque, we think of them as being fundamentalist moslems, which is not the case. it's funny that we see russians going to churches and rebuilding churches, and this is called russian culture. but when a dagestani reincorporates part of islamic culture, now they're called "fundamentalist moslems." narrator: in dagestan, there are also centripetal forces that help hold it together under moscow's rule. clues emerge from dagestan's physical geography and its impact on culture that help make it different than chechnya. here are remote mountain peaks and steep-walled valleys. the brown lowlands are exceedingly dry and provide a poor basis for farming. but in dagestan, an in

the first ballooning competitions in the caucasus were held here russia's southernmost region that was in the mid one nine hundred ninety s. a pilot had to be a professional to stay. balloon and keep it at the right altitude you can never tell how the air currents are going to behave. only nine pilots turned up for the inaugural event thirteen years ago nowadays it is an international festival that attracts both russian and foreign balloonists the aim is to restore the to former glory. vitale. is a former air force pilot on the first balloonist in the caucasus the crew holds him in high respect he was the first russian take the risk of launching a balloon in the antarctic. were made a sectional bosco's and a balloon that featured the colors of the russian flag for most k. we went to paris. from there on to santiago. finally reached oldest nation preparedness in chile with the world's southernmost city with. the usual pollution the sun the cellphones host a number of stations belonging to the united states but very many people in high places outside our country from the presence of russ

is a former air force pilot on the first balloonist in the caucasus the crew holds him in high respect he was the first russian take the risk of launching a balloon in the antarctic. were made a sectional bosco's and a balloon that featured the colors of the russian flag for most k. we went to paris. from there on to santiago. finally we reached our destination in chile with the world's southernmost city with. the usual pollution as the cell phone was host to a number of stations belonging to the united states but very many people in high places outside our country from the presence of russian blueness there extremely objectionable we paid before we arrived in chile. we were able to fly to king george oil and but only after two failed attempts. to get in the end with winds of eighty meters a second we did manage to launch a balloon but not before everything that could be broken was broken. and will continue about. as far as i know only four men in the world including myself have ever launched balloons in the antarctic. vitale was trained by alex some of one of the first balloonists in

quiet agree i would also say to see more with disaster that happened in central asia and in france caucasus so many people willing to come to russia sometimes without any rights without anyone actually waiting for them here it just shows how bad the situation is there and you know the problem is that. i like the statement that we need regulated migration i think it's all right but i expect at least one of the candidates to see we should make life in central and little better we yes we russians we russians issued recently so you know what i have said it's a no interest. in russia's near abroad if you are in the year a billion veneer but not. exactly sure exactly. how. well russia has wards of interest to improve in order to invest there to give people there more education what we have no intention or even for example azerbaijan would have the so-called slavic universities which change a gate about two or three thousand people a year that's a that's a drop in the ocean so and basically if you look there moment of mining that brush actually because of illegal migration and because of the money

. >> and 2008 romney won a nevada caucasus. momentum has allowed him to once again focus on the president. >> this week he has been tried to take a bal for 8 with 3 percent unemployment. not so fast. >> not so fast is also the message from the cowboy and the ball low tide. santorum says the is still in the fight. he said that romney's perceived strength is anything but. >>reporter: newt gingrich finished well behind romney in nevada ssc is not quitting. >> i believe the president is a direct threat to the future of this company. i think the reelection of the president is a disaster. >>reporter: ron paul says he is staying on the trail. he is the only candidate without a win. on tuesday colorado's and minnesota hold their caucuses. missouri has a nonbinding primary. >>brian: it turned out to be a nice day. temperatures are nice. here were almost 60 degrees. temperatures are not quite as school for tonight. the cloud cover will keep temperatures mild. we have high clouds streaming in ahead of this next weather system that will br

the first ballooning competitions in the caucasus were held here russia's southernmost region that was in the mid one nine hundred ninety s. a pilot had to be a professional to stay. keep it at the right altitude you can never tell how the air currents are going to behave. and pilots turned up for the inaugural event thirteen years ago nowadays it is an international festival that attracts both russian and foreign balloonists the aim is to restore former glory. is a pilot on the first. the crew holds him in high respect who was the first russian take the risk of launching the. take. that featured the colors of the russian flag from we went to paris. from their own . nation in chile. as a. number of stations belonging to the united states very many people in high places outside our country in the presence of russian blueness they're extremely objectionable. before we arrived in chile. we were able to fly to king george oil and only after two failed attempts. to get in the end with winds of eighty meters a second we did manage to launch a balloon before everything that could be broken wa

he slashed all of the caucasus and civility. we are seeing this. this is a man who a few days ago talked about education reform in the context of firing the janitors in schools and putting the kids to work. a lot of the media called that unconventional. [laughter] let's repeal child labor laws that we fought hard for in this country. bring in dickens to chronicle it. i do think there is the cruelty amidst the reality show debates we have been subjected to. who is running this, entertainment or news? there is a cruelty when people cheer that someone dies without health care or bbo a soldier that dies in iraq. >> i am joking about herman cain. he is a guy who cannot hide the truth well. that makes me more comfortable with the idea that i know who he is about so i can make a decision. >> are you talking about the women coming forward or the fact that he said he did not know what he would do about afghanistan when he became president and would check it out? [laughter] >> we have had presidents who have been reelected like that. we talked about transpar

country's on the speed and center of the sport with outlets from all across the world using the north caucasus region as home in the run up to major international competitions cost of reports wrestlers day in dagestan begins at around eight am with a run up the targets our mountain this traditions been going since soviet times and is a vital ingredient in the recipe for success that continues distinguished athletes from this small region on the international freestyle wrestling arena. over the last ten years dagestan's become a world center for wrestling with athletes from all over russia coming into practice with some of the best sparring partners in the world in the last three olympics are wrestlers of one six gold medals and we have potential for more around thirty thousand children actively practicing freestyle wrestling helped by more than eight hundred coaches. wrestling has become a noted export from dagestan just like brazil with its exceptional football players two thousand and eight olympic champion ramadan shaheen is a native of dagestan but ended up representing turkey and happens

special forces killed seven suspected militants in a counter terror operation in russia's north caucasus that of the chechen republic says the leader of the gang was responsible for a number of attacks in the region the anti terror operation on the border of chechnya and dagestan has been underway since monday officials say seven thirty gunmen have been hiding in the area helicopters and artillery have been deployed to hunt them down reports up to thirteen police. officers have been killed in the ongoing operation. turning out of some other stories making headlines across the globe a suicide bomb targeting worshipers has killed twenty six and wounded dozens in northwest pakistan the blast went off outside a mosque in a busy market in the town of parrish in are close to the afghan border thousands of pakistani civilians have died in bombings over the last five years most of them carried out by sunni islamist militias. german president christian walther has resigned the opposition demanded he step down over accusations he accepted illicit favors while serving as the governor of lower saxon

now russia's ambitious move to create alpine ski resorts in the caucasus region is gathering the layers of dollars worth of investment are still required for the pitch so as for national investors the company behind the project says a will pay off more quickly than comparable resorts in europe and. we think that breakeven period should be five to ten years maximum even with this period the rate of return will be tempted fifteen percent that's a very good rate of return compared to your ability to sell that cost you suggested creating a special economic zone in sochi if you kind of benefits would bring in the lower. house for tax benefits this will mean zero income tax for ten years after a company is established that's also zero real estate tax we're also discussing with the finance ministry the possibility to offer subsidies at two thirds of the seabees refinance rate for those who build facilities we're taking measures to ensure we still bring in lots of tourists after the olympics we've been trying to set up a big events here such as warm yellow one will these players but as we too b

but as the bushes move to create alpine ski resorts in the caucasus region is gathering speed and billions of dollars worth of messman are still required but in the pitch to international investors the company behind the project says it will pay off more quickly than comparable resorts in europe. we think that breakeven period should be five to ten years maximum and even with this period the rate of return will be time to fifteen percent that's a very good rate of return compared to europe we're building as you suggest a special economic zone in sochi kind of benefits with a spring. house for tax benefits this will mean zero income tax for ten years after a company is established will also zero real estate tax were also discussing with the finance ministry the possibility to offer subsidies a two thirds of refinance rate for those who build facilities but as we to. get on the project to develop new results in the caucuses is estimated it up to eighteen billion dollars with the state providing to begin with because how much progress have you made raising the rest. read our business plans we

regional segments for example like of ghana stand in the countries around that the middle east the caucasus and so on and all of the segments will be blinded by international. rules and. international war specifically you when the un charter now also the foreign minister has called for more cooperation between regional organizations for example like nato and the c.i.s. based. organization for security and cooperation and so on so a lot of issues are on the table here and of course the relations with nato and russia. as well also focused on the situation in russia itself the transformation that is going through the modernization process of the economy in the industry and the political sphere as well and stressed once again that this is russia's into a matter. this is not a target for any foreign influence and also the foreign minister mentioned syria once again as well saying that russia stands against any foreign military intervention into the country sees the crisis there as its internal matter which has to be resolved by the syrian people yes you mentioned relations there between russia a

injured as special forces surrounded militants in a house in dagestan in russia's volatile north caucasus that's according to russia's interfax news agency and the security forces say they have targeted a private house in a small village of good a bookie with the shootout still on going police saying there are three to five militants inside believed to be members of a wanted terrorist group additional forces have been mobilized to the site and dug stone has seen a number of violent attacks in recent years. afghan president hamid karzai has ordered an investigation into a nato airstrike that killed eight children on wednesday this comes a week after the united states announced it could halt combat operations in afghanistan than expected but this strike could worsen already tense relations between khan's i'm washington and the mounting civilian death toll journalist gareth porter thinks that foreign actions are to blame for the growing number of casualties this is the price that afghanistan pays for having foreign troops on its soil troops which carry out operations that are based on at bes

there's been an assassination attempt on the president of the caucasus republic of a posse the task news agency sides a source in the republic's police a saying the president's car was fired upon by gunman as he was heading to his office in the capital so whom two of the leaders bodyguards are reported to have been injured and i will of course bring you more details on this as we get it here on r.t. . now a look at some other stores may have lines around the world more than a dozen soldiers were killed in clashes between the colombian army and rebel forces the revolutionary armed forces of colombia were far bombed a town of colloidal which lies within a critical supply route and drug corridor through the country southeast earlier this month a similar attack killed seven people. police in bali indonesia gained control of a prison after rioting inmates set it on fire up to one thousand armed security forces backed by dozens of armored vehicles and water cannons were used to restore order witnesses say inmates had control of the facility for nearly seven hours officials are still investigat

now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world the president of the caucasus republic of a cause you know xander on quad has escaped and assessed nation attempt uninjured one of the leaders bodyguards was killed and three others injured one gunman opened fire on the president's car near the capital so who it's the sixth attempt on cause life in the past seven years and the first since he was elected president last summer. to strengthen the republic after its long struggle for independence from neighboring georgia russia and a number of other countries recognize of sovereignty more than three years ago but tbilisi and most of the international community don't see it as a separate state. as surely as foreign minister kevin rudd has resigned saying he could no longer function without the support of prime minister julia guillard the resignation comes after days of speculation that he would seek to reclaim power from dillard who ousted him from the top job in a party who nearly two years ago rudd says he's future is. yet to confirm that he will run the next year's election

the president of the caucasus republic of up kasi ali hassan the volga has escaped an assassination attempt on injuring two of the leaders his bodyguards were killed and three others were injured when a gunman opened fire on his car near the capital it's the sixth attorneys on his life for the past seven years and the first since he was elected last summer valid to strengthen the republic after its long struggle for independence from neighboring georgia. egypt's former president hosni mubarak has declined a chance to address the court in the final such another seven month trial later today the judge is expected to set the date for the verdict to be announced prosecutors want the death penalty for mubarak was accused of being behind the deaths of eight hundred protesters during last year's uprising that ended his three decade rule elling former leader denies the allegations. and i'll be back shortly with the news but business news is coming up next with katie. thank you karen welcome to the business program gas problem is accusing ukraine of siphoning off gas bound for europe during the cold

first you went to the caucasus, the five soviet republics--kazakhstan, tajikistan, uzbekistan, thoseces--and then you end up in nepal, where there are communists in parliament, and you're talking about journalists there, and you're explaining to them that you're for limited government, but you are for strong government. and i thought, for people in that neck of the woods, it must be the weirdest possible concept-- if you've got a strong government, it can't be limited government, because you'll have a strong civil service, a strong ruling party, a strong elite, and they will all want more power. it runs a little bit against human nature to say strong government but limited government. - that's a very, very important point, that to be in favour of limited government is not the same as being against government, because when you say, "well, i'm just against government", you're lumped in with lots of other people who are against government-- criminals, terrorists, foreign governments, and so on. what i favour is limited government. that means that government needs to do its job well. it'

special forces have killed seven suspected militants in a counter terror operation in russia's north caucasus chechen leader arms on the coverage of a says the leader of the gang was responsible for a number of attacks in the region anti-terrorism operation on the border of chechnya and dagestan has been underway since monday officials say some thirty gunmen have been hiding in the area helicopters and artillery have been deployed to hunt them down reports say up to thirteen police officers have been killed in the ongoing operation some world news and briefly this hour. german president christian war has resigned the opposition demand that he step down over accusations he accepted illicit favors while serving as governor of lower saxony including a private home loan from a friend's wife on thursday prosecutors called for his immunity to be lifted chancellor angela merkel has expressed regret at wolf's resignation and says she'll seek agreement with the opposition on the new president. a suicide bomb targeting worshipers has killed seventeen people and wounded dozens in northwestern pakistan t

need to change what we do on our look at some other stories from around the world president of the caucasus republic of a positive has escaped an assassination attempt on injured one of the leaders bodyguards was killed and three others injured when gunmen opened fire on the president's car near the capital so who it's the sixth tam on live in the past seven years and the first since he was elected president last summer. to strengthen the republic after its long struggle for independence from neighboring georgia russia and a number of other countries recognize a positive sovereignty more than three years ago but tbilisi and most of the international community don't see it as a separate state. more than a dozen soldiers were killed in clashes between the colombian army and rebel forces revolutionary armed forces of colombia or a far bombed the town of colloidal which lies within a critical supply route and drug corridor through the country southeast earlier this month a similar attack killed seven. police in bali indonesia have regained control of a prison after riding inmates you know fired