polish prime minister calls for opposition to end the blame game over the investigation of the polish president from flying crap. also in the program internet freedom is questioned in europe as a swiss bank is found guilty of breaking banking secrecy rules after he helped wiki leaks expose massive tax evasion scheme. no need to separate us within the courts it's a strength isn't it you don't seem to me to read a very firm russia's commitment to the mid-east peace process as he wraps up his tour of the region. and superpowers in talks as the chinese president meets his

u.s. counterpart and starting sweeps washington of the gentiles growing influence on the global stage. welcome this is r t it's eleven pm wednesday night my name is kevin and our top story the polish prime minister donald tusk told his country's parliament the political game should not affect the pursuit for the truth in the investigation into the plane crash that killed the former president this comes as the country's parliament's evaluating the final report into the tragedy catarina reports from moscow. there's been a lot of reaction of course to the investigation into the presidential plane crash that happened in april last year just outside the russian city of smiley and a lot of outrage was initially heard from poland but today's address by the polish

prime minister actually comes as the voice of reason the polish prime minister. mentioning to his colleagues that it is unwise to try and politicize this tragedy the quest for truth couldn't be more political mind games in sight and that opposition members should keep that in mind when they sensationalize the investigation because he made it clear that politicizing this tragedy is not influenced and if that's. the truth to be complete and we realize that it will be inconvenient to many there is a complex number of causes for the crash it's convenient to blame the pilots that burned to pressure the others it'll be convenient to blame the russians but it be the whole truth the organization that seeks the truth must not be influenced by forces in poland that wanted to be convenient for them there are more and more people specifically within poland's political elite that do believe that

politicizing this tragedy should be put aside and that the truth and no matter how bitter will be very hard to accept for the polish side what needs to be in order for both sides to move on. to handle the difficult truth and this is a difficult truth these. things in this real cause which help us to shift some responsibility away from the situation in our state a nation committee would publish the entire transcript all that the entire conversation between the pilots of the polish presidential plane and the air traffic controllers on those recordings it is evident air traffic controllers did. morning pilots again for landing they did offer them to use a back up airport as was in their schedule they warned them about the life and missions let's have a listen to the recording what are the weather conditions fog four hundred meters visibility temperature and pressure please temperatures plus two pressure seven

forty five seven for fun if there's no opportunity for landing thank you but if it's possible try a landing approach weather permitting if not we will proceed to a second circle one of will and when you have enough fuel for a second circle after the landing approach yes we will making a landing approach is the captain's decision at the height of one hundred meters you have to make a decision means a few tips will be requested for a sidetrack how do you have to get a military airfield of course polish one to one and one hundred meters be ready to proceed to a second circle yes or flaps and wheels down high control horizon make a second circle make a second circle make a second circle where is it make the second circle what i would call emergency crews it has been said by many of or any of the girls both in russia and poland and within the international aviation committee that no air traffic controller has that authority that at the end of the day it is the pilot's decision and therefore the

pilot's responsibility to make a choice about where the landing will take place and specifically of course with the pilot of a presidential plane and it does appear that those pilots made a decision the decision of course that ended in tragedy. constant to give it a columnist from the polish newspaper goes here to be boucher says it's beyond doubt that the polish pilots were to blame. there is not much room for debate in the world regards the main aspects of the investigation it is obvious that the primary responsibility for the crash lies with the polish pilots who should not have landed. the finding of the intrastate commission the polish government certainly does not contest that polish public opinion is divided almost equally in three groups those who accept the responsibility of the polish pilots those who believe that russia their control is responsible and those who are not sure there is a small minority who still believes in a cover up and mysterious reasons but this is not an important segment people is

public opinion obviously it is difficult to accept the responsibility of the polish pilots hopefully there will be room for more negotiations between the governments. to produce full round array of all the relevant circumstances. comes to give a columnist for the polish newspaper. there. has been found guilty of breaking the country's strict banking secrecy rules after he handed to wiki leaks data about tax evaders a judge dizzier of court sentenced rudolf elmer to a fine of over six thousand dollars british investigative journalist tony goldwyn believes the trial was an attempt to prevent further revelations about the scale of the bank's illegal dealings. the reason is to try to make sure that any bankers who are thinking of leaking information whether to investigative

journalists or wiki leaks on the internet anywhere have a second thought and that's the whole point of this case i think this case is going to send shock waves across the swiss banking system because this chap rudolf has come up with some incredible information it looks like we have forty politicians and many other business people around the world who have literally been hiding large amounts of their assets in the swiss bank accounts i mean this is something that they've been getting away with for decades and he is really the first person who seems ever come in and then leak this information out to the public i don't think there's much doubt here that there's massive tax evasion been going on and the swiss authorities have been too relaxed on it for far too long and now they're going to get their comeuppance. and just tip your boat so that's how little bit later in the week tomorrow thursday revelations assert that could pin you wiki leaks is to shed new light on u.s. russia relations then you can be the first to find out what these diplomatic cables are will be covering the story as you'd expect all here on our t.v.

from. russia as a co-sponsor of the mideast peace process and will continue its efforts to settle the conflict president dmitry medvedev reiterated russia's position at a meeting with the king of jordan as he wrapped up his tour of the region the country groucho has been following that story for us today. of course jordan for russia is more than just a mid-list partner in this region they have a very close very special relationship of these visitors part of major proportions for the russian jordan economic summit which is due to take place in march this here and the two leaders will see them talk how they go into both straight konami ties their cooperation and added just fear today they also discussed plans for the construction of a nuclear power plant in jordan which several countries are beating to build and russia among those countries but of course all of that was on the sidelines of talks on the major on the top priority subject regional developments in the middle

east and the israeli palestinian conflict. there's no need to separate those within the culture its strength is in a unity only in this way can we try to find a compromise which will satisfy both sides palestinians as well as israelis dmitri medvedev has a reset rated one in palestine russia's position on the conflict which actually hasn't changed since nine hundred eighty one than soviet union recognize palestine as an independent state today determined that it was looking for a month from the middle east peace process is obviously stalled at the three other members of the middle east quartet washington brussels and the united nations have so far been unable to persuade israel to make any form of concessions and russia is very keen to get engaged in talks with israel and palestine and palestinian president mahmoud abbas in an exclusive interview to set that russia had very good chances to become a key. peace negotiator. really recognize

palestine in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight it was also recognized by ninety other countries what do we expect from russia now there are two things the first concerns the middle east quartet it's necessary to do everything possible to boost its activity so that it's similar to the role of the european union we would like russia to convince the u. . yes because it's the only country that's against the final statement containing new conclusions it will help us to have a better substantiated discussion with israel while promoting the peace process russia could also insist on its position in stopping the settlement activity in its relationship with the us and israel and on getting back to the negotiations table i think that russia is ready for that that's what president medvedev has reaffirmed during this visit. also the visit out the russian president to jordan quien sides with the orthodox church celebrations of it before any of this is one of the twelve major orthodox holy days and these side forty kilometers outside of amman the

capital of jordan where we are now is the place where thousands of christians flogging every year because it is believed to be the site we're joined by ties jesus christ this is the first stand to make from a very of is making pilgrimage to this side as an orthodox christian is known to celebrate all those with all the days and he's always very keen on visiting holy christian sites across the world. and there's the russian president took a dip in the holy water is the jordan river for the a perfectly orthodox christians and plunging into freezing waters at home to whom. the first day they put their hair to grow very well the way to mission that the russian winter sun criticized your very existence. i can tell you i'm feeling very exhilarated right now the word for it see our fearless reporter diving into icy waters along with other russians marking it more from peter in the tape in a few minutes time. media freedom in the european union is in decline that is the

finding of an international organization defending the rights of journalists its annual review suggests that in some e.u. countries reporters are under pressure from their governments and are often forced to reveal their sources when such country is latvia and. some journalists in the baltic state. with professional persistence latvian t.v. reporter. interviews a local politician in twenty years as a journalist she has done hundreds but one of them got her in serious trouble an expose on a security breach in latvia state revenue body and it with police in her apartment was forced they opened their doors and went into my flat and then they showed that they had a security search have a search warrant one say took my computer and information i had i got they also acquired information other my information sources which by a law i am allowed to protect that was the biggest problem for me as

a journalist because i could not protect my information sources he was a story shocked many in latvia a country more used to press scrutiny just a couple of years ago latvia boasted one of the highest freedom of press ratings in all of europe being placed seventh on the annual reporters without borders index but for one reason or another in twenty ten this country is down on the very same list this incident is far from an isolated case say experts this one received a lot of public attention but it is not the only one a skull of from the first bills higher school an economist was charged by the secret police and he was actually arrested for two days for disseminating alternative opinions about the future of the local currency. devaluation a lot was imminent we are losing the last. support for the alternative information the liberal information. among the cross alters in this country lotta

lobster is and the other journalist who defined the insists freedom of the press is not being deliberately strangled he believes the reason is down to economics. newspapers when don't crowd to the recession. others turn to they are all for money to survive so the. did singlehandedly shift look peepers editorial policies to their own preference simply for the sake of three hundred three dollars in their heads directly heat press freedom. there are other theories however some believe that latvia is spearing down the freedom of the press ratings simply because the people behind the index are biased but not good believes that as long as nobody has been punished over the forceful search of her apartment concerns about pressure on the press may not be groundless. ski r.t. reporting from brega in latvia. two hundred twenty three fifteen moscow time let me update you on some world news headlines in brief suicide bomber driving around

guillen's filled with explosives have scratched into a security headquarters in central iraq it's left thirteen people dead more than sixty four others were wounded it happened in the ethnically mixed city of baquba north of the capital baghdad it is the second suicide blast in the last two days on choose they almost fifty people died after a bomber attacked a line of police recruits in the city of tikrit. haiti's former dictator called the valley has been brought before court on charges of corruption and embezzlement charges relate to his fifteen years in office until one thousand nine hundred six and judges may take up to three months to decide if there's enough evidence for a trial now as baby doc duvalier has also been accused in the past of ordering two trains and in the political enemies who are expected to return to the country after twenty four years in exile in france. the chinese president hu jintao is in the united states for a four day state visit talks with u.s. president obama about economics trade and human rights have already started most

believe it will help clarify whether the countries are partners or rivals let's talk more about that joined by economist max wolf. from new york a very good evening cheering a lot of media focus on this visit of course is it do you think to redefine relations between the two countries what's riding on it. well these visits have a heavy public relations element in which the various leaders do what they think they need to do to stay popular stay relevant stay important with various don't mess to cooperate and general public constituencies but there certainly are a lot of major issues on the plate here from the chinese currency to american military activity in the in the asia pacific region to china the chinese unveiling rather maybe with poor timing a new stealth fighter and all kinds of economic tensions that have bubbled up with increasing intensity over the last ten to fifteen years you know one of the big bones of contention china officially keeping its currency low to make its products

cheaper in the u.s. that's not going down well in the u.s. what we see is a solution to that long running currency war as best you can put it between the two countries. well i think we see the chinese trying to underline with various public relations attempts as well as the premiers visit here all kinds of ways in which the u.s. economy is highly reliant on china which are all very much accurate and true so today we see discussions of a forty five billion dollar increase in export purchases from the united states to china we're going to see part of the reason that the chinese are interested in making a big media stand in chicago the american heartland is to propel this notion that china is a major buyer of american goods and loner of money to the united states both of which are correct to underline the mutual dependence and the importance of china and to push back against a currency rhetoric which is quite clearly counterproductive since it seems to do more to dig in chinese heels when it does to loosen their grip on the renminbi even

to their own tonight president u.s. and chinese business leaders he said he wanted specific ideas about how to remove trade barriers what do you think they're likely to come up with. i think they're more likely to come up with a great sound bite them they are with serious forward progress on that but it is interesting to see the triumvirate of an american government being very solicitous of the chinese government and bringing in its big guns who are very much part of american policy toward china and that would be the leading our fortune five hundred u.s. companies companies like general electric and goldman sachs which are very much represented in today's meetings and they do kind of suggest that there is a nexus of power between large american transnational corporations and u.s. china business relations which have shifted a bit over time as some of the initial excitement about china in corporate circles has given way to very much still excitement but with some concerns about u.s. export access to chinese markets if you stand back and look at some of the the big

headline to see a one notable one over the past two years china has been the world's number one investor the economy is the if you look at the united states it is a cause dealing with a massive domestic debt and all those war planes which country do you think will be a better economic shape say ten years from now. well i think one thing we learn from history is forecasting anything more than ten months from now in economics makes us less likely than any other man to his general rule but i. believe but that said there is every indication both in the american and the chinese consciousness that china is on the rise that the united states is struggling unsuccessfully to keep up its portion of the world economic engine that it's been we're in that danger of falling below twenty percent of world g.d.p. a place we haven't been since before world war two actually and the chinese are very much galloping ahead terms of their portion of world g.d.p. their importance their relevance in africa their relevance in south america and one does have a sense of the chinese on the rise economically and the united states on the wane

economically and that's very much the backdrop for all the conversations that we see today and all the conversations we've been seeing over the past weeks and months and in some cases several years in the chinese leadership keeps on the system doesn't it the both countries should respect each other's. is not going to happen. i think to some extent they will not do in the united states has borrowed so much money from china in many different vestiges and forms that the united states and china are in a mutually dependent relationship they need to make sure we can pay them back and that we keep borrowing to keep buying and we need to make sure they keep lending and keep favorable to us because we really rely on china both as an import export market and as a creditor and i don't think that's going anywhere and i think both the chinese and the american public in very different ways are uncomfortable with the mutual dependence that the two nations have and you see the leaders working to domestic constituencies uncomfortable with that mutual dependency but they know they have to

nurture it and sort of drown out voices that are hostile or suggest all kinds of non-viable and dangerous breakdowns in bilateral relations economist mark fred all for joining us tonight from new york thanks for your input here and appreciate it. and you can have your say about what you think about u.s. china relations currently and what their future that's a question we're asking on our web site r.t. dot com tonight this is what we've been telling you as well tonight it's been going along as the chart shows the results now saying forty three percent of you know a lot of changes in the last couple of hours the majority of you anyway choosing the least serious option should we say that china will own half of america's territory well thank you for your vote anyway twenty four percent of you predicted a fragile alliance between the two countries is a slight increase in the number of u. twenty two percent now picking the most pessimistic a nuclear war only eleven percent of you think the u.s. will freeze its debts to china they have been the results so far thanks for talking

to us if you haven't a website you can change that graph. orthodox christians are celebrating the a perfectly the holiday which marks the buck tism of jesus thousands of believers are plunging into frozen lakes and with temperatures plunging to minus fifteen degrees celsius it takes courage to brave the icy waters as artie's peter oliver discovered. in the tradition of the old church here in russia the nineteenth of january is the date of the know what that means to people who worship the orthodox church is that was the date that jesus was but time now to celebrate that here they jump into the freezing cold rivers of russia now here in moscow where i am the

could a hole in the ice on the mosque of our river to make sure that bush has and people can jump into the river and celebrate the feast day of the epiphany no it's not just a religious thing this is now become something of a health kick if you will the people that want to come into the water believe that the the icy temperatures can have some health properties for you can make you feel better in yourself the way it works in the religious sense is that it will see you again it will cleanse you of your sins and it will set you up for the new year your life to the blessing over the ice pool by a priest is headed essentially into a film and a simulation of the season of chase's crisis because it's a place where i take my own turn getting in the world to see it's about money miss fifteen here the air temperature in moscow plus for apparently the temperature of the world to so i guess it's going to be a little bit wilma there's nothing left to do now but we'll get in. we'll see how this course.

writing. let's see how did that the first day put that heart what a way to mission the russian winter sound cruel to your if there exists a. i can tell you it's in very exaggerated right now. he shares a mass he must go. in a few minutes tonight are things people of our losses guess where the rising oil prices are putting global recovery at risk but it's business before that we sure. hello welcome to our business program. the recent deal between b.p. and rosneft could spark investor interest in other state assets under the agreement

the two companies will carry out exploration and russia's arctic shelf artie's tom barton brings us the latest from ross nafs headquarters in moscow ross just bosses are very happy about the deal that's being signed they say that essentially what's going to happen now is a whole new industry is going to be for the industry of offshore arctic drilling which didn't exist before in russia they also say that this is one of the first one billion dollars of this invested will be fielded by b.p. america happy about that the people it's part is also happy because they feel that they've got the expertise and the technology to make that work and get it back later on it's called a global and optics to teach it part of what it really means is but exploration there's a lot of oil there it's estimated that there's about a fifth of the world's oil reserves are under the arctic explorers here people from this deal from b.p. of course never reckon they might be able to start drilling in five to seven years

other experts say that's a bit over confident it could be as many as twenty years before they could actually get drilling but the deal is very much of mutual benefit for both both sides wasna if needs be the project teaser specifically it's an arms drilling technology and b.p. needs rosner after its goal for oil of mexico oil spill last april it needs to generate new revenue in the future. the russian oil industry could face new tax rules as soon as march a draft law backed by the energy ministry would reduce export tax for crude oil by about seven percent while raising it for products the ministry wants to make the change this year without a phasing period any budget losses are expected to be covered by an increase in oil export volumes experts warn that measures could mean lower volumes for light off products on the local market and a jump in fuel prices. look at the markets in russia the stocks closed mixed

on wednesday extending their losses and retreating for the third time in four sessions this is after citi group earnings resulted in mr analyst estimates curbing appetite for riskier assets the r.t.s. was up a point ten percent in the my sex was down point zero five percent energy majors did help the indices. and russian markets are seeing some profit taking after the oil fueled rally early in the week. i v to be capital explains who wednesday's winners were. the leaders again. view williams and rose from percent zero percent. names out of retailers. more than three percent was a proper name here and losing some ground as investors for their preferred leaders

system was also one of the names. again almost four percent. and that's all the business news for this hour but you can always find more stories on our website that's our. business stay with us. culture is that so much of the taxpayers' money i mean it was is never a real mystery the one hundred dollar question the rising price of oil the cost of

petroleum has been increasing steadily over the past few weeks and months. wealthy british style it's an awesome time to the guys playing cards. with their. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy is a cause a report on our.