as the southern sudan prepares for its historic referendum on whether to separate from the north many displaced by ethnic violence in the country see it as an opportunity to return home. whether could cause five thousand black birds to hide inside from doomsday predictions and to media hype. the fallout from the mysterious deaths of fish an

animal's across the globe. and the call of duty. the russian special forces unit preparing for the frontline against terrorism. broadcasting live from our studios in central moscow this is our team and we're certainly glad to have you with us millions of sudanese. preparing to vote in a referendum that could see one of africa's poorest and most troubled nations split into two countries in the vote starts on sunday the christian dominated south is widely expected to choose independence from the mainly muslim north the week long ballot is being held as part of a peace deal which ended decades of civil war in two thousand and five thousand refuge in israel place considered an enemy state by the sudanese government party's

policy met some of the refugees to ask about their hopes for the upcoming historic vote. the road to freedom is long and israel wasn't their first choice egypt was but as the thousands of refugees fleeing sudan found themselves under assault in cairo by a police force trying to clean up the streets the decision to cross over into israel seemed a logical one israel is near from here and israel is. and they do this country. and christian but the journey was long sometimes on foot sometimes paying bedouins to drive them you have to cross the border and coming to the israeli border without mesure the sort of not to see you otherwise you would be something shooting and made their journey three years ago with his wife and four children he watched friends and family die along

the way some were shot some died of hunger. and then. see if you have weapons on and this but it is war doesn't really know what to do with these refugees last year alone eighteen thousand arrived just from sudan and eritrea is always party to the convention on the status of refugees which means it concentrate fiji's back home if this would risk their lives but keeping them here is becoming more and more difficult. benjamin korean works as a cleaner in a hotel and struggles to make ends meet my life. how can i walking. or. i didn't go to my unit. and thousands of sudanese share his story poor homes no jobs little money and it's too dangerous to go back to sudan sudan government is again it. is really.

a pure them. maybe a world where going to northern sudan you would be and sudanese leaders have said as much if the authorities. really set the northern government of sudan finds out that the person has sought asylum in israel this person would be in in serious risk of persecution southern sudan is holding a referendum on whether to separate from the north and become an independent state if the final stage of the peace agreement that ended up twenty two years of rule many of them have has spurred from being in israel for such a long time with no rights whatsoever that people realize that they don't really have a future here and people are also homesick and benjamin moore not sure what to do home beckons despite the risks if those southern sudan is pre-dawn

i will decide the world. r.t. southern israel a recent spate of unexplained mass animal deaths across the globe has conspiracy theorists and doomsday believers predicting impending calamity even scientists are struggling to find a rational explanation for all the events. of it takes a look at now to see if there really is something fishy going on or if it's just media hype. sing a song of suspense one where the end is nigh as thousands of black birds fell out of the sky and when the birds were found the news began to sing the end of days conspiracy does have a catchy ring. at first it was just arkansas grabbing the world's attention then louisiana followed suit and your feathers with mysterious avian death since wieden experts attempted to calm the public by suggesting the birds got scared of

fireworks who are flew into trees and cars because of bad weather and we know is that fireworks or weather could not cause five thousand black birds to have a liquefied insides that's what the fish and wildlife veterinarian sad they've never seen anything like it now we're seeing the same polarization of the insides of black birds they are dad when they hit the ground they are dying in the night while they're roosting in trees but then one hundred thousand dead fish. that seem to have opened the floodgates i think. by and large not a portion are actually under us meaning how serious it is so i believe. that the entire planet or that we have a toxic release of gases and changes in the oceanic currents that the entire well current system is no destructive for those not very impressed with the scientific

explanation there is always the religious one fanatic bloggers have once again started flooding the world wide web with end of days posts and the international media storm for news during the slow post christmas month of january is having a field day and you are as he calls sooner rather than later contacts. for you cannot even get down the road without running over hundreds it was that bad with more and more mr. deaths around the world brazil australia and new zealand crabs in the u.k. the frenzy is growing and the headlines scream a clock over. these fishy stories looks set to continue stealing the media spotlight at least until scientists have had a chance to examine the dead animals or you know the world comes to an end whichever of course happens first. catherine as our r.t. moscow miami based

a vet lewis read as told you that these types of events have happened before and a thorough investigation is needed. it's impossible to say for sure what's happened to the birds and the fish until proper investigation surveillance in fact i don't believe that these events are interlingua nothing medically fold one after another and that's to try to universal expansion is not the first time that the world is observing such phenomena it's happens in other countries to the moment the investigation in arkansas claims an autopsy has revealed the earth suffered from internal bleeding but the research is yet to be computed we could also be dealing with some new virus so usually it is another possible explanation but i repeat that feeling first occasion is needed to establish the cause of what's happening and find a scientific explanation for it. still ahead for you this hour communist boogie men . they're getting a new lease of life from the fathers of socialism attract new admirers in the

financial crisis hit america also. we gain access to the training of russia's elite special forces see just what they have to go through coming up in a few minutes. a russian factory ship with hundreds of people on board remains trapped in the frozen waters of russia's far east it was part of a convoy stranded over a week ago the other vessels have been successfully freed from the ice now a powerful icebreaker is expected to arrive later on sunday to help complete the rescue mission strong winds snow and two meter thick ice have hampered the rescue mission officials say the people on board are not in danger as they have plenty of supplies to get through. the u.s. is planning to send another fourteen hundred marines to afghanistan to bolster fragile gains against insurgents the move comes as president obama's july two

thousand and eleven withdrawal deadline approaches artie's military contributor says what matters now is how this fresh batch of troops is used. the way to stack tickle shift that is supposed to happen in afghanistan it's an additional beefed up of u.s. marines in the southern part of the country they're going to the latest data the u.s. marine corps is expected to beef up its deployment but the question is who cares whether it's going to be just the same static twenty thousand for just one thousand marines or the kershner difference is to with purpose released additional marines serve the key issue here is that helmand province is a u.s. marines sanctuary and it could make or break they new military campaign in southern afghanistan and define the future of afghanistan itself and the future of the u.s. military presence in afghanistan and beyond if american marines relay gann be used

and abused in full of cordons we have the policy of save guiding the drug lords and their slaves in hell man the province then they will be remembered in afghanistan in generations to come as the most expensive suckers of the exploit of the drug and warlords in afghanistan who are deployed to safeguard yet another record breaking opium harvest in hell manned and beyond. now on to some other international news in brief this hour a congresswoman has been seriously wounded and at least six others killed by a gunman in the u.s. state of arizona the shooting took place during a public appearance by a democrat gabrielle giffords at a store in the city of tucson she was shot in the head at point blank range and now is said to be in critical condition some eighteen others have also been wounded

police say the suspected attacker is in custody. u.s. authorities have ordered the messaging website twitter to hand over personal details of people linked to wiki leaks the district court in virginia wants all account information including user names phone numbers addresses and payment details we can leaks founder julian assange and an icelandic m.p. are among them in the u.s. a criminal investigation is looking at a songes involvement in the leaking of thousands of classified documents. young yang says it wants to reopen to a talks with seoul as soon as possible to settle the situation on the korean peninsula the north offered to start negotiations without preconditions this month it's the second such proposal from pyongyang this week the south dismissed the first one as insincere relations between the two koreas abruptly deteriorated after the shelling of a south korean island in november that left four people dead each side blames the

other for firing first. in times of rising unemployment and poverty in the united states the idea of social equality is beginning to seem appealing to some so much so that the works of marx engels and even lenin are going through a resurgence arty's little easter went to meet a few of america's socialists. the very first sentence of the congress manifesto in . a specter hangs over europe the speaker of communism like. in modern day us the specter of communism hangs over the bottom floor of a brick building on the west side of downtown new york city the rock from started out actually as the new york marks of school in one nine hundred seventy five here communism is certainly no bogeyman and it's poster philosopher so to speak is revered. and i wanted to be around other more and it's just a talk with all the marxists in the u.s. that may sound a little taboo even unpatriotic to the average joe but these days amid rising

poverty and inequality in the country more and more people are joining in the discussion certainly since the kind of the economic crisis where the financial crisis kind of hit home and a lot of people realized you know there are some systemic problems we saw a huge increase in influx of traffic here people opening their eyes to a different view here people's histories poster projects wherever you look you can see a chapter of events not found in history books they don't realize that that haiti was the first free black republic in the western hemisphere you know and historically they've been punished because of it. choose a door and behind it you may find any number of leftist social movements left out of mainstream news here right halle these carolers are urging a boycott of israel because of its policies towards palestine and the building of illegal settlements in the west bank oh five days for

a few not only great nations sure it. was a hero was that behind another door you could hear the discourse left out of many american colleges i failed that it was just an amazing world the knowledge that i had never been exposed to. people also just play poker with the side of political analysis you don't hear on cable the whole struggle. you know the immigration story everything is cause that kept a stranglehold. though we're at the marxist school the people we've spoken to here are calling for any kind of proletariat revolution no violent political uprising but everywhere you look the history in the philosophy of communism is here you can see all of the works of marx engels over here is lenin even here the writings of

joseph stalin and the version of monopoly that they play is called class struggle to prepare for life in capitalist america where the object is to win the revolution of workers when it socialism capitalists when it's barbarism talking to people around the brecht forum it seems many are trying to implement the change they're studying without uttering that yes or c isn't communism word now it's become more positive to say progressive or less whatever you want to call it they are actively trying to solve the problems and inequality they see in the country which is an attempt to make change but maybe right now it's not in terms of a revolution but of working from within which you can call any number of things but probably not the tree arctic and mr aren't t. new york. and we invite you to check out our t.v. dot com for more news and analysis here's some of what's lined up for you right now . europe that sees a spike in the number of arrested terror suspects raising questions whether poor

background checks on the silent seekers are to blame also. find out about your crews years mystical messengers between humans and spirits the ancient tradition of sharman ism lives on in some remote parts of russia for more. you can head to our t.v. dot com. download the official t. application on the phone. from the. video. world comes and says feeds with the palm of your. question. the kremlin dela crem of russia's armed forces spits knots are on the front line in the fight against terrorism with a reputation for intense training and tactics they are revered and feared the world

over. it may look like a scene from a hollywood blockbuster but the special forces are very real. these young soldiers part of the country's internal forces are preparing to meet and it's france their country may face the history of special units all spetznaz in the russian army goes back centuries but tactics and techniques have evolved dependent on the key challenges of the time but these guys have always been the lead and in the twenty first century they are on the front line of the fight against terror and siege hostage taking for these youngsters these are life like scenarios from training. none here get taken part in a real operation. day by day they learn how to act effectively face to face with an enemy that is exhausting both physically and mentally but for many facing their own

fears remains the hardest thing we. said to belong to the elite but of course i am a human and argue about it fears to cope with them is every soldier's number one most challenging turn. left turn in colonel and drake or i if it's here to help the young boys deal with that. the order of courage was terrorising chechnya and crimson bury the talks place similar to america's green beret he knows how to take control of human nature was afraid many sportsmen come to us and fail only twenty percent managed to prove deserve it as a truce but it's not soldier which is a fusion of physical insurance and what may be even more important emotional maturity. countering terrorism is a spats not spatiality but they could be sent to any kind of emergency its freshness the country's security in mid december when the russian capitals heed by

a wave of. violent nationalist riots spetznaz soldiers were on standby close by because. some may say that's no job for special forces and for the police of all ages we don't agree that there is the order and we have to carry it out as well as we can not sit. in your eye all of these young soldiers a conscript your kids. many see it stay for longer sign a contract and continue as professionals in the least that's not. very notion r t. if you are thinking of hitting the winter sales in moscow all that are to show you how to get the latest must have trends for last in the russian capital. well although the stalls in humor are generally expensive january is the best time

to come shopping here you'll find terrific bargains during the sales and westy designers such as paul smith kenzo or armani for example amazing clothes for discounted prices. and you can join martin andrews in about ten minutes time right here on our to our next our two dogs to a renowned a french historian about russia's past and present. got a gun call structure of history and humanity permanent secretary of the french science academy and the woman who predicted the breakup of the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight in her book because laps of an empire is here with us today bicycle. thank you very much my dumbed down course for your time. and

your recent book between two walls you talk about russia can we presume from the title that you think russia still hasn't found its place in the world media. at the knees of sim swiss look nice not exactly what the book says that russia has made these kind of decision but over the past ten years he's been pursuing two different paths rather than one which is what i've been trying to explain is that after the soviet union disintegrated russia rushed to your door but as you have did not offer a woman welcome system beginning of this century russia's foreign policy has been two directions rosin and one on the one hand which farkas is on the west on the other hand because it was joe graphical position. so decided to position itself as an asian country with quicker and gives it a greater risk and influence in the world has been pursuing this policy for more

than ten years now and is broad great success as that of the twentieth century russia's international reputation around the world was not very good but now after the past decade it's obvious that it's been reckoned it's a big change russia has taken a very important step forward and in my opinion this president is irreversible you know russia has become a world power at the flipper board is beginning in your introduction you raised the question of whether russia should be fear of its jury in that being pirogue russia and the soviet union which you were used to be afraid of and you are still alive. to think that gave up on this there not only in europe with the collapse of the soviet union it was not anticipated it happened overnight many countries primarily love to solve it influence the eastern european countries and countries that used to be part of the soviet union but are now independent states did not understand

russia and are afraid of it as eastern european countries have become e.u. members have showed it here is and passed them on to the law saying that russia used to be an empire so why should it cease being an empire and can't be trusted now that is in the past has been forgotten by now people have already insisted that russia is missing its owner path but time has shown the jewels you have for example which has always been saying that it wants to save itself for russia that's why it's what it takes us need to feel that russia will dominate georgia again and look i think that's a few years originate from some kind of misunderstanding of the break up of the soviet union because it was so sudden that no one could adjust themselves to the mediately all the european and priors have collapsed. but the collateral after decades of preparation you were in russia itself was not ready to throw you don't

believe in russia's imperial ambitions to write i don't believe it or i'd rather say the recent kind of innocent algeria but that's a completely different saying what a country can forget overnight that it's used to be a powerful empire but russia has common sense despite the fact that some russians say it used to be so good and that is a shame is forgotten about across a still russia where people in specifical is an hour ahead of common sense and their stand too well that it's over and it's russia's future is allowed to be an empire but rather to build up its reputation and via satellite our rather than by force. this will be with rory why does europe yet russia now. a russia is needed because the entire history of international relations is moving away from europe it's played out in asia even the us a civic until it is refocusing its foreign policy on asia so you're aware of the huge countries that will plays

a big role in lochee media in asia or latin america but that's a direct question you know what is the current state of european asian relations europe is of no interest asian view europe as a landmass the tree choose to pacific oceans russia is your of a not a whole but if you picture there was an alliance here then we can say europe reaches the pacific affairs this is the reason europe flees russia and i'm not sure if russia is europe but europe at the moment of needs russia is one of them cause so worth my time and on course at one point you predicted the collapse of the soviet union and you knew forecasts for more than russia. that's the fear in the i know i don't hear anger there is that she saw it when i was writing about the soviet union i didn't see the. just a looked again and saw so many there negative elements that i couldn't help but ask

myself how long will it last i don't make forecasts as a rule or the story of how i look at the past and try to figure out what's happening in the present i think russia has come a long way over the past twenty years it is having some difficulties as countries do it's not easy it is reducing the marcos of capitalism it didn't bust in europe centuries to do that or it's doing it within twenty years isn't so easy that i think russia is following the path he chose in ninety nine to one there have been ups and downs but i don't see any discourse you know unity so i think if we can become about russia's future it's starting to look the more and the more like you know around the country as it was before if somebody asked you to describe more than russia in just three words what would those words be. the frost one would be might say which it wasn't until years ago and he said them as a this second important aspect.