russians demand equal justice as the spotlight falls on cases of influential

figures using their connections to evade prosecution. with the u.k. braced for public spending cuts economists warn of more financial hardship on the horizon. heroes of a state russia honors the agents deported from the u.s. in the biggest spy swap since the cold war. six am in moscow good to have you with us here on r t our top story the daughter of an influential serbian official will face retrial over a horrific car crash that left one woman dead another paralyzed a public outcry was initially sparked when it was revealed that anna shaphan coble was not going to be charged over the incident that happened a year ago c.c.t.v. footage showed a toyota veering into the pavement and then the car's driver only checking for

damage ignoring the critically injured pedestrians shouting cove a pregnant at the time of the crash got a three year suspended sentence and was given time to raise her child it was alleged that her high profile mother a regional electoral committee official could have tipped the case in her favor as r.t. sarah forth reports it's not the first time a kid with connections in russia has been accused of escaping justice. when valarie was nice down by it was the beginning of a long in fairly difficult reach to me it was the best valerie was not and. that that was five years ago and since then he's been on. able to say that but investigated he suffered horrific injuries and the memories of that day still very clear in his mind. i remember exactly how it all happened moment by moment my friend oh yeah and myself we're standing here as we parted he looked

across the street on the green light i remember the green light vividly i had turned and began walking in that direction when i heard a sound and saw something flying towards me the driver of the car was eighteen year old abuse of the daughter of a former high ranking f.s.b. officer for larry's case or they being denied a criminal trial did make it to the civil courts. we asked for one hundred thousand dollars in compensation but at the time of the trial she claimed she was just a poor student with twenty dollars monthly allowance so she was ordered to pay three thousand dollars to me and she did in installments but even before the trial she was actually a major shareholder at a commercial bank in moscow so larry made eight attempts to have criminal proceedings launched but was refused every time. if an ordinary person had been in her place they would have faced criminal punishment long ago the incident

is too serious to refuse to open a criminal case there seems to be a category of the population in russia which is immune from criminal prosecution for larry's repeated attempts to get the case tried in the criminal cause of lead to accusations against him with the abuse of the family claiming he jumped in front of the car and was trying to extort money from the in response to larry made an online play to president dmitri medvedev. i'm hoping for your objective help mr president. an investigation into the legitimacy of the refuses to launch criminal proceedings has now been or dead. no jim de mint's. i made my own lines statement not because i want compensation for my hills but because i've been falsely accused and because of all the corruption i want justice. with the full investigation yet to be conducted. remains in the driving seat

larry left to slowly rebuild his life with the help of friends and family sarah. cheney had been squeege in. for and we are from the christian science monitor says media coverage helps bring privileged offenders to justice you know this is not an unfamiliar scenario in a lot of places it is perfectly common in almost every country that the rich get a better ride in legal systems if only because they can hire better lawyers and and find their way to navigate through the system better and the thing you notice is that the intensive press coverage on that forces the authorities to make a show of treating them equally the more publicity the more light that shone on this the better the better it will be analysis there from fred we are moscow correspondent for the christian science monitor the leaders of france and germany say their countries are facing the same security threats as russia and efforts to

tackle them should help in building a new partnership with moscow nicolas sarkozy and merkel were meeting ahead of a summit with dmitri medvedev in the small french resort town of deauville artie's catarina as are reports. they're going to be some very serious issues of course on the table as the three leaders tackle various issues relevant not only to the european community but also to the international agenda issues such as stability in the middle east the ongoing situation in afghanistan and iran is nuclear agenda those are all going to be discussed by the means of a defined his colleagues from france and germany but it's also issues of course that are relevant to europe specifically and they are expected to dominate the talks here and specifically the issue of global european security proposed by the russian president a little earlier russia's cooperation with the north atlantic treaty organization is also going to be discussed of course and that will be dove tailing into the new proposal for a global european security plan and various other aspects of european corporation

of course the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the various effects that it has had on bilateral trade on european trade on russia's relations with those members of the e.u. the negotiations to have a visa free regime of all russian citizens wishing to travel to europe right now of course we know that russian citizens are obliged to get a visa in order to enter the european union that's according to the shang an agreement that is currently enforced and for a number of years of officials have been talking all over the possibility of removing the visa regime and making travel for russians into europe visa free and that is yet another issue that if a certain to raise with nicolas sarkozy and angola merkel and of course many russians are keeping their fingers crossed that something definitive will come out of those talks. thomas power from the european council on foreign relations tells our two that improving ties between moscow and warsaw could pave the way to a new era in russian relations. there have been indeed great within the e.u.

about how to manage the relationship with russia what we've seen over the last few weeks and months is a narrowing of these divisions and in particular the the very important fact of the polish russian rapprochement has really engineered a whole new dynamic and i think the u. today is much less divided than it was two or three years ago and this is the background against which this meeting has taken place and i would almost argue that it couldn't take place without the background being what it is now i think that's an absolutely crucial fact there was a big split between berlin and also especially about how to manage the relationship with moscow that was a source of strain in the pro to term relationship that is now gone and we are seeing a much more positive than i make overall. stay with us here on our team coming your way next italian invasion find out why your service afghanistan is being blamed for

wrecking a series of secret operations. first though the u.k. is bracing itself to hear about public spending cuts worth tens of billions of pounds the coalition government will reveal the comprehensive spending review on wednesday it aims to drastically slash the budget deficit and put the country on the road to financial recovery but some economists say the worst is yet to come. reports from london. the start of a new working week in the city of london in the eye of an economic storm life goes on as normal but those who work here know that the financial crisis is far from. the worst to come i think the worst still to come i think the worst of it there is more to come how much more they're talking about the financial crisis we've already had but according to some economists we ain't seen nothing yet certain respected finance is this a rather than solving the issues that caused the last financial crisis governments

in central banks like the bank of england behind me i actually leading us towards an even bigger meltdown and they can see even seem to agree on a lot to do in europe the powers that be are stopping the money printing machines over in the u.s. the federal reserve has just announced another round of quantitative easing but who's right nobody is right i mean that's really the problem the difficulty is that when you've drunk three. then you may well think that you're capable of putting the world to right but at the same point in time you know you're going to wake up in the morning with a hangover this is the point where we were going up in the morning with a terrible hangover in a new book the gathering storm a group of finance has got together to say that governments have learned nothing from this crisis policy may. because they're applying old models in their economic projections and that could lead to inflation hitting ordinary people hard debts

will have to be repaid and restructuring will have to begin but in the city there's a fear that people in denial full sense of security i think yeah i think it's very convenient from the political perspective and overall feel good. to feel bad you know people want to feel but you know but it's the fundamentals are not great people are still in denial. when the tax man starts chasing people who can't buy even nobody a problem that i did may come home to roost this week when the government announces extensive cuts to public services we shouldn't let the period of extreme global weakness which followed the lehman brothers collapse is that. in this long drawn out depression there could be much worse episodes still to come. and here in the city of london that would really put the cat among the pigeons.

in germany experts are divided over chancellor angela merkel's comments that immigrants they are need to do more to integrate she said attempts to create a multicultural society had utterly failed in germany but critics have dubbed her speech as a way to score cheap political points a third of people in one survey were discovered to believe that foreigners are taking over germany another kahaani the founder of the i'm a do antonio foundation that works to combat racism in germany says immigration policy has to be addressed across europe. we have specially east germany a lot of neo nazi groups this is these are hard core new nazis who killed a lot of people and we have also a big the rise of anti immigrant feelings in the population of west germany so now with this discussion we have in this moment things are rising and i fear that there will be more victims of rape violence immigration is the future you

cannot work and live in a globalized world in the middle of the world in europe without immigration and moving populations so you have to really make a good policy of immigration all over europe and we see this that the history of gear up with this long history of nationalism and small countries is now. is now getting into a crisis so neat we need a long time to to make it better but you have to in front of this you have to really change the policy of of immigration inside europe this is very important you have to make adapt the educational system and adapt all the. all the self understanding of the states they are not anymore only white or only

swedish or only portuguese or only german they our multicultural places in the world. perspective from another kahaani the founder of the amadou antonio foundation. russian secret service agents sent back from the u.s. this summer in a high profile spy scandal have received state awards from the president dmitri medvedev the honor of the employees of the russian intelligence services in a ceremony at the kremlin palace artie's europe is going to have more. this story was probably the biggest spy scandal between moscow and washington since the cold war in june american offloads announced that they've arrested a group of ten people who are suspected of being secret russian agents were working for many years in the united states under cover we've all been detained had gone and undergone trial were found guilty of being on registered illegal russian agents have their property and belongings were taken away by american authorities that

were also banned from ever coming back to america unless a big green light is given by the white house itself they're also all bridgette from ever publishing any information on their activities while were working undercover for russia in the united states and then they were deported from america in exchange for four people who are serving time here in russia after having been found guilty of being poor and spies this whole ceremony was held in the relatively secret atmosphere we don't exactly know how many people received the state awards we don't know exactly what state awards they were decorated with according to the president's press secretary not only to mark over the people who are in the center of the last summer's spy scandal between moscow and washington who are also reportedly awarded state awards and now out of those ten people g. ported from the united states probably the most popular figure was and is on a chop and who is a young very successful business woman she used to have

a british husband she used to have british citizenship which was actually taken away after this scandal last summer and this she's got the type of character we usually see on cinema screens in james bond movies and not in in news reports that's why probably the most attention from the media was aimed at her as this story was broadcasted across the world and there are reports in some russian media including the echo mosque we radio station that on a job one was also there and was also given a state award but this is still unconfirmed information and more of speculation be unofficial at the moment. italy has joined the u.s. led surge in afghanistan which will bring the number of a talian troops in the country to four thousand by the end of the year but a leaked report suggests that rome is not following the rules of engagement it's alleged that italian troops carried out secret operations involving raids on afghan villages that resulted in civilian deaths journalist fabricio moron says the

italian presence there is more to do with politics and it does with the fight on terror. the government is now talking about it because basically we really is fighting a war in denial in afghanistan what's happening is that we are there oficial the. peace keeping rebuilding a reconstruction mission because that was the way that the governments sought to detail in public opinion our engagement in afghanistan which is an engagement which is not well seen but a part of the public opinion being very costly in terms of money of course but also in terms of risks and lives of our soldiers in a place which is seen by the public opinion as very remote and not really willing to be to the national security because the obsession with terrorism which is something that some countries namely for example the united states or britain feel particularly strong it's something which is felt less strongly if one in italy the

problem is that we are not there because our government or our establishment in general is concerned about the situation in afghanistan so we're not really there for strategic calculation if one a we are there because it's a way to han or to clearly sion and to friendship that we have with the united states it's more a political engagement if you want this is something which is very crude and it's something that of course is not subject of public statements of course but that's basically the substance of our stand in afghanistan and these means that we have really no strategic thinking about our staying there we are there because nato is there. perspective there from italian journalist robert siegel miranda let's take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe students have blockaded the entrances to schools and set vehicles on fire in paris and mar say they've joined nationwide protests against increasing the retirement age from sixty to sixty two years and cuts in spending in france nearly

a quarter of gas stations across the country have run out of petrol as truck drivers throw their weight behind the strikes there was also fears that charles de gaulle airport in paris could be similarly left without fuel workers say they won't stop protesting till the pension bill is up bend in the senate will hold a deciding vote on wednesday. in a bus crash in central mexico has killed eighteen people the bus was on route from mexico city and first into flames after colliding with a truck both the drivers and all the passengers died in the accident state authorities say it may be wreaks before all the victims can be identified. a trial in turkey started into the case of more than one hundred fifty people charged with links to a separatist kurdish guerrilla group more than ten elected mayors are among the suspects who've been held in prison for eighteen months and the case is being closely watched by human rights activists as comes at a time when the turkish government is trying to reconcile with the kurdish minority who've been fighting for autonomy since one thousand nine hundred eighty one.

thousands are fleeing their homes after a so-called super typhoon hit the northern coast of the philippines meteorologist one of the typhoon is capable of causing catastrophic damage at least seven people have died in a state of emergency has been declared it's been four years since another storm of similar strength triggered mudslides and left dozens dead. remember you can always catch the latest on everything we're covering here just a click away at our t.v. dot com here's a look at what's online right now. as the russian capital cools off for a hot summer the city's catwalks are just heating up as designers from across the world display their spring summer fashions at a russian fashion. and just to all of the russian mafia take our test to see if your knowledge of these wiseguys is enough to let you into their inner circle.

i'll be back with a recap of our main stories in around ten minutes first though our political aisle is of the dog who believes that russia's priorities lie in both the east end the west that interview coming up next.

you. think you. think. i just love that kind of thank you very much for your time and agreeing to this motion now one of your recent article says that russian democracy a stale making baby steps is also something that we've been hearing for the past twenty years what is coming and it's way to becoming full fledged the most important thing is history heritage. all the western countries started democratic development. in the eighteenth century they have no legal basis for democratic development russia hasn't been illegal state and when you start to create democratic institutions with no

established legal system. that causes corruption. that causes only potence all those and polar. causes wars about you know the wealth it causes. war is about property and property in the rights of the world well established so i think that is the major problem for russia no. before making great steps leaps in democratic development the government has to establish the legal system here their democracy will develop naturally and so are also. called russia pacific countries as russia see itself as one i think russia should consider itself as you are a pacific power. russia is still looking for its identity some people say russia is

a european country and it is because our culture is european and we're a trade relationship mostly with the european union more than sixty percent of foreign trade on the other hand russia is bigger than europe. your asian country because most over its territory is in asia and there is also quite an important side of the russian life but in my mind for russia the most promising geopolitical reintegration is europe pacific like one more country in the world which is you are a pacific and that is the united states you're pretty much answered my question but if we were as of now to say where do russia's priorities lie can it face to the east and the west equally our priorities are east and west russia is european or. asian some people say russia is just an independent central power some say that

russia should be part of the western community some say that russia should look eastward or southern southward. my feeling is russia can build on its relationship with the worst but it is quite unreal. to assume that it can become part of the west integrating into the western community in the e.u. it means membership in the un nato which is quite problematic russia in my mind is too big and too russian both for era peon union and for nato. they're not eager to see russia inside well go as are. pursuing by opposing common european security strategy russia's goal is to make russia part of the european security the irony of the situation that russia which

is an important country in europe. a important state is not pored over european security system as of today the european security system is nato. this is where we're part of it so the proposal of mediated to build common security space is to bring russia and some other countries which are still like ukraine into the common european. security decision making are you one of those politicians who believes that nato is an outdated tokenization every organization which exists is not outdated it exists. of course some missions of this organizations are somewhat old dated and some of the thinking inside nato. though data the nato bureaucracy is sometimes old data nato was created. as you may remember keep america in germany and russia.

and america in the real purpose of nato but you know keeping germany down the russian dated missions but sometimes it looks like that these missions are still there you know barack obama's federal securities tragedy says that no one country even the strongest one can. actually faced while challenges alone is this one politician speaking or oil really changing a water order well i think there is a change in the united states which is i consider a long term. of course a bamma started this change taking. several things the problems americans have in different crisis serious like in iraq and afghanistan where americans first moved unilaterally almost unilaterally and then figure though

that even the mary co the biggest country with the biggest military potential cannot deal with situations in countries which were considered to be minor problems . and this is one thing another thing the economic constraints on american military might and the crisis shows that the national debt the need for more social spending so for a recession measures all that limits the material basis for policies of using force and also this is a recognition of the growing importance of the other centers of power including china including india brazil russia and few others which are playing a greater role in the global community so that is something which is recognized as a reality.