the afghan president is in moscow on a mission to strengthen his country's ties with russia brainstorm solutions to mutual threats and expand common interests. and this landmark official the first one by an afghan president in decades joined us the details in just a couple of moments. was once named norwegian of the year but is now facing deportation from the country we reported on a case that has norwegians accusing the government of double standards. russian arms dealer set to make his first court appearance in new york the u.s. may call him the merchant of death he claims he's the victim of an american propaganda war. after their recent operation to develop russia's arctic self criticism. details the program twenty minutes.

twelve noon here in moscow this is our top story now afghanistan's the world biggest opium producer and russia is the biggest consumer reason enough to get the heads of state from both countries sitting down for talks. on his first official visit to the russian capital where he's also seeking to boost economic ties. following the meeting for us. president karzai are talking about economic cooperation and talking about boosting trades and even though this is indeed the first needed by an afghan president xi to russia in over thirty years nonetheless presidents karzai and the tears just did meet three times last year and in two thousand and ten they managed to boost trade to form what four hundred and thirty million u.s. dollars so it could have a corporation is of course very important

a full partnership between the two countries osu russia's investment in the reconstruction of the added infrastructure was damaged during the war something they're talking about today's. russia and the. need for russia afghanistan to engage with. russia. develop its. capacity but also be off trade for investment by introduction between business which is very short the two presidents are discussing military corp of course earlier russian the united states have agreed that the u.s. military cargo would be allowed to be transferred through russian territory to ease the process of delivering military aid russia has also sold eighty m.r.e. seventeen helicopters to afghanistan with guns and ammunition so military talks are

also on the table two presidents are talking about how russia could increase its involvement in tackling the problem of drug trafficking russia has been trying to do so over the past couple of years by participating in all sorts of international meetings that the involved to know that brought upon this problem over the table so the russia of course is very much interested in being involved in this because thirty thousand. people die from heroin addiction in russia every year and that heroin comes from afghanistan altogether in russia. hundred thousand heroin addicts and again most of that. russia is the number one consumer. those drugs so this is the number one issue. that today's.

how the international community including could be involved in helping to destroy those. the international community should have ganesan because we are very of been destroyed by years of war and destruction and the infrastructure has gone the abilities. police force. or military so we have the capability to prevent supplies from other countries of course who have. not been such a. piece for drugs is a slowing. we're hoping to see some progress to be made today and waiting to hear for a joint statement from the. e.u. throughout the day. around twenty minutes we can log on to our website. right now.

more involved in the region as its own security is at stake we're gonna start unstable. russia's. role in afghanistan can be. based on a prosody russia will be affected by extremist elements from afghanistan would move for their towards central asia it will. totally dismantled the russian security belt and i think russia has more stake in stabilizing it. and more stake in helping afghanistan stabilisation not only in terms of food security and military but in terms of development and reconstruction for creating jobs. she was once named norwegian of the yeah that's part of the whole thing will sway with a scandinavian authorities that are about to deport russian born. illegal immigrants despite the fact she's lived in the country for almost

a decade and that reports on the case that he has moved. their own government. are you relieved that you can stay in norway for one more day maria yes this was very good one day's good one more day might be all she gets for russian born maria is due to be deported from norway where she's lived since she was sixteen she speaks fluent norwegian has a degree from a norwegian university and even a norwegian boyfriend the only thing i've wanted and she as well is for her to be with me and all of you it's a case that touched the hearts of ordinary norwegians enough to make them turn out repeatedly to protest for an immigrant girl who's made an effort to become one of them and it's created a grotesque comparison with another failed asylum seeker one mullah krekar leader of a kurdish terror group cracka has been declared a threat to national security and is on the u.s. and un terrorist list although he's now volunteered to go back to iraq norway won't

deport him to a country that carries the death penalty it's a terrible paradox for ordinary people to see. this fantastic everyone loves. this person that is not very popular to say the least constant nuisance to norwegian society is able to stay born muddiness in the logic of cause parents fled north etc when she was only twelve possibly as a result of a business deal gone wrong although well connected in russia closely related to the last defense minister of the savior union. of the family sought asylum in norway and when they were refused decided to stay on illegally reportedly learnt norwegian in a matter of weeks got a masters degree and raise a book on the plight of illegal immigrants in norway and at the tender age of twenty five was declared norwegian of the year by an old magazine she had. an

extraordinary sort of integration into norwegian society which is also very active . in musical festivals and literature first was an extremely sort of active in the which new thing despite process the government standing for ironically norway's recently the number of deportations in response to public criticism the treatment of illegal immigrants was too lenient in two thousand and ten to poor said thirty eight percent more foreigners than the year before and the justice ministry insists the law must apply to everyone everybody who comes here and apply for asylum said. sure that thorough examination of the asylum application. that is to case for each and everyone applies for asylum. but the point is in this case and other cases if that asylum application is rejected. those who are

obstructed have to return we prefer of course that. they do this voluntarily but if they do not return or they have to be sent to their country of origin by force but amylase lawyer insists she hasn't had a fair hearing in fact he submitted terrorists claim to be authorities and the first he heard of it being rejected was when five police turned up to arrest her after a speaking engagement political party the christian democrats samaria i believe is a prime example of why the rules must be changed we have to remember the child in terms of the way. here in norway. situation. come true in this case show me the change in the way we treat. children but any change in the law is unlikely to help mary and really she has to report to a police station every day with

a suitcase in case today's the day she has to leave her home the norwegian government's treatment early has. brought its people out of the streets in anger and yes it would now take a humiliating state to allow her to stay in the country she grew up in and has come to cool home. hasn't given up but it seems the norwegian person of the year time left in norway can now be counted in days not weeks. coming up later in the program banking on china find out why americans are resting in the one in order to make a quick buck. thus a happy new year from pablo escobar. brought the infamous drugs campaign to the streets of ukrainian city. i presented is all the european union are boycotting on xander because shank is inauguration for his fourth term as the president of the roost according to a spokesman all twenty seven member states have decided to distance themselves from

the ceremony this comes after the european parliament passed a resolution calling for sanctions against the better russian leadership its response to the violence that erupted after december elections was initially does not interest for. national service voters read the proposed sanctions into the ban on visas and the freeze on bank accounts to senior government officials. foreign ministers or so to which a founder sitting at a meeting later this month because frankly has ordered retaliatory measures to protect. against his religion is the first target of russian media has faced restrictions and some experts say this round will be more intense. this is a man and a regime which is seeking to suppress human rights groups free expression by civil society political opposition and what we need to do is to be seen to the european union and international community for change that we were and whether

it's today tomorrow or sunday in the near future. there would be consequences on this progression. otherwise we're letting down the human rights groups and political prisoners who are suffering today in the past they were very blunt approach to start all over nothing you know what we are saying today overturned today it's not signed chanst financial sanctions against himself or others in his regime who are not at the moment signing with that should people on the family members were saying that the motive that to track should stay open we want batteries to be part of the eastern partnership with its neighboring countries and our local the european union but multilateral through the i.m.f. if we were poor we cut off but yes there are these further steps that we could make in the future we are putting personally on notice the international community does not recognize the election results and will not stand idly by as innocent

opposition members are imprisoned or beaten or tortured and civil society suppressed in this country we will not look the other way alleged done run a victim boot is set to make his first u.s. court appearance for a pretrial hearing he faces charges of conspiring to kill americans and supplying weapons to terrorists maintains his innocence the media continues to call him the merchant of death. are one of three. true to form hollywood and most of the us love a great villain in the film lord of war nicolas cage please have your was officials celebrate his arrest the so-called merchant of death is now a federal inmate who is this merchant of death and why is he getting all of this attention with. the us over the course of eight years cultivated this image of an

evil mastermind apparently they have no other problems nowadays there is only victor boot there is no osama bin ladin no al qaida no problems in afghanistan no problems in iraq there is only victor boot the evil man is a russian cargo dealing businessman chased by the u.s. for a decade upon the request of america he was arrested in thailand two years ago after thai courts twice found him not guilty of any crimes he was still extradited to the u.s. this november to face one conspiring to kill united states nationals to conspiring to kill united states officers and employees three conspiring to use an acquire anti-aircraft missiles and for conspiring to provide material support to the far already dubbed international arms trafficker by the u.s. victor boot is being held in a new york prison even though viktor boots trial date has not even been set yet the man has spent almost two months in this jail in downtown manhattan in solitary

confinement his only contact with the outside world consists of meetings with his defense team as well as once a week check ups from the russian consulate having arrived to the u.s. to support their relative the family has already received a far from warm welcome in the states his wife paula was held at the airport for almost three hours with the immigration officer asked me if i knew my husband was a terrorist while accusations are flying. case illegally remains in thailand you social he will place according to boots thai and russian lawyers his case to this moment remains in a thai court with meaning there was no official decision of an extradition this has been raising the question of whether the us broke laws in whisking him away onto its soil. or boat has not committed any criminal activity and has not been found guilty neither in the us nor in any other country victor boot has said he's the victim of a propaganda war launched in america this is the lord of war. the merchant of death

all right and you've got him in your hands right he's in custody it's a great feeling whoops wife believes the case against her husband was fabricated and calls what happened to him a kidnapping the police guy i can accept the possibility that victor boot might have some information that might be of interest to someone but why is it that other countries don't just think to themselves that there is someone who has some interesting information and why don't those governments just drag those people on to their territory technical pretrial hearings for victor boot kickoff in manhattan this week but legal experts say it will be months until the start of the trial if found guilty by the u.s. federal court big her brood could face up to a life sentence behind bars and is that you're going to the new york websites has a lot more to offer you whatever you want to some of what's online right now at r.t. dot com here live the desert as

a journalist on covers on the world's largest spying bases and it's we'll find out why the country went on there just for decades. and a modern day problem of traffic agent solution moscow's bell rings offered up their services to help with the gridlock the details of that are to dot com. the iranian envoy to the international atomic energy agency says tehran on that list stop enriching uranium ask us autonomy made the statement on the eve of the latest round of talks on iran's nuclear program their voice says his country's atomic program is now completely self-sufficient richmond's will continue using iran comes under military attack the country is already suffering four sets of un sanctions on this country sitting down for close talks with six world powers in istanbul a scar soltani told r.t. that iran shouldn't have to bear any international pressure in the first place. man

it's so hard that all the sanctions imposed on us by the you when are illegitimate we were obliged to allow inspections of our reactors and we did the international atomic energy agency found nothing wrong with our nuclear program and the inspections were going on but then the us britain france and germany pressured the i.a.e.a. and the security council got the report it was waiting for international inspectors never found any evidence that iran is working on nuclear weapons and this means our country has not broken the law there is no legal basis for demanding we stop enriching uranium. the chinese president hu jintao is in chicago on the third day of his trip to the u.s. to discuss economic and security cooperation as it comes in the same way that the bank of china opened up trading to american customers for the first time and a currency continuing to strengthen against the dollar and the americans are hoping to cash in port not small. new

york city's chinatown is a go to for many things authentic meals designer knockoffs manicures massages and now money in the bank of china one of the country's name is state own lenders has unlocked a particular door to u.s. citizens american customers are now allowed to come to this bank and open up an account trading their u.s. dollars for the chinese who won a currency bet some experts believe is worth making a currency exchange of up to twenty thousand dollars per year and while plenty of u.s. banks try to entice new customers with special offers the bank of china might be offering something irresistible today growth experts say china's currency is likely to go up as the country remains a manufacturing powerhouse the chinese have been saving and over thirty five percent of their income and the united states we've been saving and investing two

percent of our income we've been borrowing in consuming they've been saving and investing the world's largest export are currently coasting with the new enormous trade and budget surplus while the us is hardly treading way down by a crushing fourteen trillion dollars national debt so are americans ready to give benjamin franklin the push the u.s. dollar. for me their evil were interested in investing in anything i think well how come not the u.s. dollar. bill goldman sachs already owns that and instead embrace now is a dong if you find surprising that americans are swapping dollars for you know american currency chinese currency you know what is in the price because that's what all of the papers are trying to get your take over and it's doing so well blah blah blah. it's holding china's money becomes as trendy as holding the i pods it manufactures economist max wolf says the yuan may eventually become

a. force to be reckoned with if wealthy people around the world or in the us begin to hold their money in chinese currency renminbi guan and they associate it with wealth may associate with a good investment it legitimizes and jacks up the usage in the acceptance of the chinese currency. as with any gamble banking on the you won does have its risks us private consumer takes one side of the bet the bank of china takes us out of the bet fair the only thing is the bank of china makes a decision on how valuable do you want this. so as more americans flock to china town some may be looking to satisfy an appetite for such one pork or peking duck others possibly seeking economic security in a foreign currency marina port nine r.t. new york some other international news in brief for yourself or u.k. prime minister tony blair is to face a second round of questioning over his role in the run up to the iraq war why are is investigating why did you take support of the us in the invasion they will be

asked to clarify his anyroad says and he was protesters are expected to demonstrate throughout the inquiry. more than one hundred twenty people have been detained in the village a single day and i feel down in u.s. history use of force of violent and evil acts from murder and extortion to drug trafficking f.b.i. agents use wire taps of intelligence including assistance from the thousand informants switch targeting new york's five main crime families took place in the city and in other areas northeast of the country. south korea has agreed to a joint high level military talks with the north following months of tensions between the two countries and their proposals right from geck to buy so as sincere relations on the peninsula have been at their worst level in years since last november's deadly to exchange between the two countries washington has been the latest development calling it an important step forward. the residents of the

ukrainian city of holocaust were given season's greetings by an infamous deceased drug lord this week lumbee in the public wished them a happy new year his face beaming out proud and from a billboard in the middle of town the sign had the smiling king pin waving that process by for several days officials claim they have no idea who is behind the result message which reportedly cost the anonymous of use yesterday more than twenty five thousand dollars to put up and before anyone could figure out what the whole point of the message was it was taken down by police. the creators head with a business you set out. our welcome to business and we start with our top story russ and banks have got rid of two thirds of their non core assets also these were unwillingly accumulated during the crisis now for more on that i'm joined here in the studio by richard

hayes worth challenge at risk rating thanks richard for joining now my question is . these non-court assets of russia bags are now estimated at around twenty three billion dollars now the central bank says it could be even more sixty six billion to think it's a good pace work the quantity of. difficult to assess because on one hand. banks don't have any incentive for keeping them on their balance sheet so they've found various ways of putting these core asset not core assets into non-banking subsidiaries so for example spare bank has a spare bank capital. also another company that takes control over these non core assets and manages them other bikes have different ways they've also created securities called. which essentially package these non-poor assets and take

them off the balance sheet of the banks so just looking at the balance sheet of the bank which is what is filed with the central bank it's very difficult to assess how much there actually is in the banking system but how did the banks accumulate such large amounts of not grasses i mean different companies about he had different assets it was real estate only or it was stocks or bonds or no there's a whole variety of things one bank has told me that they have things for example they've got just stations in more months going fishing. enterprises on the river dong. a whole variety of enterprises some of these are enterprises that took loans for themselves they were all. mabel to pay their loans and they're paid because they became the property of the bank alternatively the. borrowers of the bank who took loans from the bank for some project of theirs they couldn't meet other payments and therefore they lost the collateral that they had pledged. for

for for repayment now what about these new rules that the central bank wants to implement like that would they would force the banks to pay to reserve as he said not seventy five percent of these workers might then you're really in a state the new rules are different by term and still under discussion. essentially there is a problem that faces russian banks in the russian and the russian some trade bank the economy at the moment is so weak in terms of. just getting going again after the crisis that there aren't very many people who want to offer a good price for new enterprises. there isn't the capital available so in two or three years time there will be more capital and these enterprises will be worth more to the banks therefore banks want to hold them and so they can sell them later the russian central bank and russian banking analyst say well no you should get rid

of the assets generate cash and lend them to new borrowers who can then grow so but i was twenty percent before now at seventy five yeah well that's because if i'm wrong on other it's the reserving on these assets so the central bank wants the banks to sell them so what it's doing is creating a penalty for banks if they keep them on their on their on their balance sheets the longer they keep them on the balance sheet the larger the penalty so the central bank is trying to force banks to sell these. and that i mean. the way the reserves you know it is just a penalty except essentially the central bank is saying look if you're going to have a gas station on your balance sheet and you're not going to sell it well you can't count that as part of your capital and if your capital is decreased then you can't lend this much to borrowers who have long will have to take big loans ok well thank

you very much for this up thank you. and that's all the business update for now that's always hope that's all the time we have for join me in less than while from morning. repairing a broken ancient. highway construction and few monitary in eight. buses

shady officials market the spoils of war it's the people who pay the price. profiteering here is no longer just down to drug trafficking. afghanistan and the dollar. on the tube wealthy british science. is not on. the. markets financed scandals find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines in to cause a report. for the full story we've got it first hand the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.